


Beneath The Waves

by LittleLeaf25



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Boys Kissing, Deputy Stiles Stilinski, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Humour, Kissing, M/M, Minor Laura Hale/Jordan Parrish, Minor Talia Hale, Missing Persons, Oblivious Derek Hale, Peter Hale Being Peter Hale, She's only in one scene cos I hate her, Siren, They get together in the end I promise, Underwater scenes, Warning: Kate Argent, Writer Derek Hale, bad language, mermaid, please don't hate me for that, slowest burn ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:08:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 35,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25919362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleLeaf25/pseuds/LittleLeaf25
Summary: When bodies start dropping in Beacon Hills, Deputy Stillinski and wannabe writer Derek Hale take on the investigation with Parrish and the rest of the pack. Will they be able to save the day?
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 14
Kudos: 65





	1. Where The Bloody Hell Is Derek Hale?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, This is my first attempt at Sterek so I may not totally have the characters down yet, please be gentle, I would love to hear your thoughts. A huge, mega, thank you to my wonderful beta reader @Ambear9 <3

The radio crackled to life, " _ we've got a 10-16 in progress on Delta Street, anyone in the area?" _

Stiles grinned excitedly "Ohhh a domestic in progress, sounds like one for us Parrish" He reached forward grabbing the radio and pressing the button "This is BH-25, We're on route, anything we need to know before we get there?" Parrish was already screeching down the road with the lights and sirens on.

Derek hung on tightly to his seatbelt in the back seat and watched wide eyed as the streets of Beacon Hills flashed by.

_ "No Stiles _ ,  _ it's Earl again _ " the grin was clear in the operator's voice.

"10-4 Ally, ETA 2 minutes" He replaced the radio handset and craned his neck turning between the seats to look at Derek through the grates "Hold tight writer Derek, things about to get bumpy"

Derek could smell the excitement rolling of Stiles in waves. When he asked the Sheriff to do a ride along for his latest book he wasn't expecting to be speeding along the normally quiet streets of Beacon Hills with a deputy as insane as Stiles Stilinski.

They pulled up at the house, Stiles ordered a firm "Stay here" to Derek and exited the car, weapon drawn low, pointing to the ground he moved sideways up to the property. It was unassuming, Derek drew a small sketch of it in his notebook as both officers entered the building. He could hear muffled shouting as Stiles and Parrish entered through the already open front door. Derek frantically wrote notes trying to capture every sound, sight and smell of the scene, until a single gunshot sounded, it rang out through the neighborhood like a wave. Derek could feel his fangs itching to drop and his claws surging forward, he pulled on the door handle, remembering too late that he was locked in, as it was a police car.

He was about to remove the metal grate between the front and back seats with his bare hands when he suddenly caught the site of Stiles walking a middle aged man towards the car, he had handcuffs on and a bloody mouth, the red liquid providing a stark contrast to his pale, gaunt face. Derek's eyes scanned the area before seeing Parrish exit the house with his arm around a large brown haired lady, she smelled more angry than hurt but seemed to appreciate Parrish's comfort.

"Alright writer Derek" Stiles said opening the door "Gotta vacate dude, Earl here's going for a ride" Derek gathered his notebook and pen and exited the car, the man sneered at him as he passed.

"Deputy I, I didn't-"

"Don't wanna hear it" Stiles said slamming the door, he turned to Derek "We attend Earl and Dora's place at least once a month" He ran his hand through his hair.

"I heard a gunshot" Derek said,  _ and way to sound dumb Derek _ . He rolled his eyes internally.

"Dumbass shot the TV" Stiles huffed a little "The only person to suffer in that situation is him" Stiles squeezed Derek's upper arm and it did  _ not _ feel nice, it did  _ not _ "You ok writer Derek?" He gave him a warm grin and there was no way Derek was going to tell him that he was about 2 seconds away from wrecking the patrol vehicle, so he simply nodded "You're riding with me, in the front, Parrish's going to the hospital with Dora."

Derek walked around the car and got in the passenger door, the radio was cracking loudly again and Earl's heartbeat was loud enough to be uncomfortable for Derek's ears. He watched Stiles and Parrish converse before Stiles placed his hand on Dora's and smiled before getting into the driver's side.

He fiddled with his seatbelt before telling Ally over the radio that he was bringing in a suspect and pulled away.

"This is the captain of your ship seeking, please refrain from putting any body parts through the bars or my skipper here will willingly amputate them, this includes digits, toes, tongues and other sticking out body parts" He gave Derek a mischievous smile, he was almost vibrating with excitement, if Derek didn't know better he would say Stiles was peacocking, but he did know better, so maybe he was always like this. "Sit back and enjoy plain sailing all the way back to Beacon Hills police station, we'd like to thank you for sailing with Stilinski Cruises"

Earl grunted from the back seat, it was obvious that he knew the Beacon Hills police department well. 

Once Earl was booked in, Stiles led Derek back to the car and announced that they had to go and pick up Parrish before Dora tried to marry him,  _ again _ .

“So writer Derek, was that action packed enough for you?” He grinned.

“Just Derek is fine”

“What?” Stiles opened his mouth wide and gasped “I can't go around calling you ‘just Derek’, that's really rude, my Dad did not raise me that way” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in an unknown rhythm, Derek noticed he had long slender fingers and subconsciously licked his lips “Any questions for me writer Derek?”

“You go out to that house a lot?”

“Yeah” Stiles sighed, resigned to the fact that some people just didn't want help, Derek subtly sniffed noting he smelt like disappointment “Earl drinks too much and Dora hits him, the gun thing was new though, so that's exciting”

“Dora hits  _ him _ ?” Derek asked, writing something in his notebook.

“Yeah, she’s got a mean right hook, and did you see the size of her, man I wouldn't take Dora on in a fight” Stiles laughed a little then shook his head “We’ve tried everything, neither of them will press charges, and they won't split up because according to Dora they are soulmates, and I will tell you right now, if, if my soulmate socked me in the face, it would be over, like O.V.E.R, know what I’m saying writer Derek?” Stiles glanced at him wide eyed, Derek nodded.

“Sooooo” Stiles continued, because he was clearly going to have to do the lion's share of conversing here, thank you writer Derek “You basing your characters on me and Parrish huh?”

“What? No” Derek watched him deflate a little.

“I guess there are more exciting cops out there, I get it dude no problem, you should um, you should look at Deputy Kincaid, that dude is  _ interesting _ ” Stiles put the car in park and got out before Derek got the chance to reply, they walked towards the opening of the hospital, Stiles greeted one of the nurses enthusiastically putting one arm round her waist and grabbing her other hand, spinning her around and making her curly brown hair spread out like a fan “Why Mrs McCall, how delightful of you to dance with me”

She laughed and slapped his shoulder before saying “Stiles, let me go” And gently kissing his cheek.  _ And who was she? Who was she to be so informal with him. And where the hell did that thought come from? _ Derek ground his teeth a little and glared at everyone,  _ that's right eyebrows, you show them who’s boss.  _ Derek hated shadowing Stiles, it was making him weird and he was already weird enough, he snapped back to reality as she said “Jordan’s in the second room on the right, when I left Dora was planning their first daughters sweet 16th” She laughed and put a hand on Stiles chest, “Go and rescue the poor man Stiles”

“Yes Ma’am” Stiles saluted and then threw a thumb over his shoulder, “This is writer Derek, he’s with me, writer Derek this is Mrs McCall” Derek nodded and the nurse smiled at him, and was that pride he could smell on her? She clearly knew Stiles outside of the professional environment. Stiles opened the door and advanced towards Parrish who was trying to pry his hand out of the death grip Dora had him in, while she enthusiastically informed him of their future together, once she was Mrs Parrish.

“And of course Deputy Stillinski will be Daisy-May’s Godfather, it goes without saying, and oh-” She cut off mid-sentence, loosening her grip on his hand and providing him the opportunity to snatch it away “-Who’s this leather clad man?” Her scratchy voice sending unpleasant shivers through Derek’s spine.

“Well” Stiles began, sitting on the end of the bed, all three occupants in the room now staring at Derek hovering in the doorway “Firstly, of course I’ll be Daisy-May’s Godfather, that goes without saying” He smirked at Parrish who narrowed his eyes in return “And this is writer Derek, c’mere writer Derek, come and meet Dora, she’s basically part of the Beacon Hills police station furniture now”

Derek stepped forward and nodded his head “Ma’am”  _ And oh no, one of them smelt slightly like arousal, please don't let it be Dora, please _ , he closed his eyes for a split second. Dora sat up in bed and held her hand out for Derek to shake, he cautiously shook it but was still surprised when she yanked him forward and he lost his footing, landing straight across Stiles’ lap.

“Tut, tut, writer Derek” Stiles said wagging his finger at him as he straightened himself up, his cheeks burning with embarrassment “I’m not that kind of boy, I require dinner and at least 3 dates first” He winked, turning to Dora, “All hormones that one” He motioned towards Derek, rolling his eyes.

Later that afternoon when they had managed to escape Dora, Derek was standing outside Sheriff Stillinski’s office wondering how to word the fact that he wanted to shadow someone else, _ anyone else _ , without offending anyone when Stiles approached him, he ran a hand down his face.

“I think we deserve a drink writer Derek, don’t you?” He clapped him on the shoulder, Derek glared at his hand “ohhhkay, doesn't like touching, noted!” Stiles removed his hands and put them in his pockets where they wouldn't try and reach out for those broad shoulders again “So? Bar?” He shrugged.

Derek shook his head “No. Thanks”

“Oh come on?” Stiles bounced a little on the balls of his feet, “Don’t be such a sourwolf”

Derek looked him up and down quickly and narrowed his eyes, through gritted teeth he managed to ask “What did you say?”

“I said don't be such a sourwolf” Stiles grinned “You know, when a wolf, such as yourself” He pointed at him before licking his lips, Derek could smell confusion and bravado seeping out of his pores “is being, well, sour I guess?” He scrunched his face up in thought.

“A. Wolf. Like. Me” Derek repeated very slowly, his voice low and his words measured, he took a step towards Stiles, who in his defence didn't move a muscle.

Stiles barked out a laugh making Derek's green eyes blow wide in surprise “Yeah, what makes you think you're the only one round here dude? Pfffft, come on, the bar we go to has aconite laced beer”

“How did you? I mean how-”

“How did I know? Easy you’re a Hale” Stiles pushed him slightly towards the exit, surprised how pliable he was at this exact second.

“Are you a, um, a-” Derek shook his head to try and reassemble his thoughts into something that could pass as understanding.

“Human. I’m human dude, can’t you smell that on me?” Stiles leaned forward pulling his head to the side and bearing his neck to Derek, Derek felt the sharp sting of his fangs trying to slide free as they cut at his gums. He grabbed Stiles’ wrist and squeezed, hard.

“Never. Ever. Willingly show a wolf your neck unless you are pack. Ever. Are you stupid or something? You’re gonna get yourself killed”

Stiles hummed a little and answered “Blue. Good to know, not that it bothers me” He took off walking towards his beloved jeep. Derek shook himself as he forced the shift to stop, he took several strides forward and grabbed Stiles by the back of his uniform. He turned him around and shoved him up against his car “Ohh, kinky” Stiles grinned. Derek shook him again, a little harder than he meant but what was it with this guy?

“You did that to see the colour of my eyes?” He quirked an eyebrow, voice laced with venom “You wound up a wolf to see the colour of its eyes? You’ve got a fucking death wish”

“No” Stiles help up one finger “No, no. I wound  _ you _ up to see  _ your _ eyes, are you saying that if I had said, pretty please writer Derek show me your real eyes? You would have just obliged? No, you wouldn’t. But now I know your eyes are blue and hey” He raised his arms and did jazz hands “Still alive”

This guy was going to press all of Derek's buttons. Fucking,  _ all _ of them.

\-----------

By the time Derek and Stiles got to the bar Derek was a little calmer but still wary of Stiles and the way he had a total disregard for his own life.

“Isaac” Stiles grinned patting his hands on the bar “A beer for me and” He lowered his voice conspiratorially and motioned with his head towards Derek “And an Ace for my friend, writer Derek here” 

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose “Stiles” He huffed “Why don't you say it a little louder, I don't think the people in the back heard you”

“Sure” Isaac said casually as he bent down behind the bar, reappearing with a black beer bottle. It had a home made label that read ‘Ace - Martin Distilleries’ and a small picture of a purple flower in the corner, he plonked it down in front of Derek and nodded slightly.

Stiles took a long swig of his beer while Derek stared at the drink in front of him like it offended him just by existing.

“Put ‘em on my tab Isaac” Stiles winked.

“You don't have a tab Stiles, you just never pay!” Isaac said, wondering over to serve another waiting customer.

Stiles let out a bark of laughter interrupting Derek’s brooding and making him turn towards the cackling cop. He scowled at the man approaching, unfortunately for him that particular man also had a hardcore scowl so it had little effect.

“Stiles. Giving away my stash?” The other man said, moving his eyes towards Derek again and giving him a cold stare.

“Hey Jackson!” Stiles sat up a bit taller “This is writer Derek, he’s writing a novel, it’s basically about me right?” He turned his head “Right writer Derek? It’s about me?”

“No”

“Aww he’s being coy, of course it's about me” Winding Derek up was quickly becoming Stiles’ favourite pastime “Writer Derek, this is Jackson”

“Stiles, a word” Jackson grabbed Stiles by the back of his neck and all but dragged him over to the other side of the room. Derek thought that was weird considering he could still hear them. He slowly took a sip from his beer, and then another. This stuff was pretty good, he needed to know where to get it from, Laura would go mad for it.

Jackson pulled Stiles’ face close to his “What the fuck?” He ground out “You stink” Jackson still had his hand on his neck which Stiles now realised was both protective and in order to scent mark him as he began to slowly rub his hand back and forth.

“Calm down narkywolf, he’s cool, he’s part of the Hale pack. You know, the ones who very kindly let the McCall pack stay in their territory, that Hale pack?” He gave Jackson a pointed look. Jackson looked over towards the bar briefly then back to Stiles.

“He’s Cora’s brother, must be the one that just got back from being sent to live with his Uncle, heard he killed someone”

Stiles laughed “Writer Derek killed someone? Yeah right, in a book maybe, he’s a pussycat” Jackson noticed Derek had paused drinking his beer, knowing he could hear them he said

“Just remember who you belong to Stiles” He put his hands on either side of his face and rubbed his cheeks a little “Don't get caught up in something, I can't be saving your ass all the time, I’m busy” 

Stiles snorted and made his way back to Derek. The evening was a bit tense, Derek and Jackson clearly not fond of being around one another, they did however have common ground in Cora, who spoke very highly of both of them. Isaac kept the beer flowing and Derek felt a little drunk at the end of the evening.

Laura picked him up, offering to drop Stiles home but he was already in Jackson’s car. He couldn't say it was the start of a beautiful friendship but at least no-one got their claws out.

“Der, are you? Are you drunk?” Laura side eyed him while driving home, he made a non committal noise and gave her a slightly loopy grin, which,  _ what the fuck? _ That grin did  _ not _ belong on Derek Hale’s face! “How? How are you drunk right now? You’ve never in your life been drunk Der” She pulled the car over and cut off the engine, manoeuvring herself so she was facing him a little more “Alright little brother, spill, what’s going on?”

“Stiles-”

“The cute cop?”

“Mmmhmm, he’s got a supply of werewolf beer, beer for werewolves, that werewolves can drink”

She put her hand over his mouth “Yeah ok Der, werewolf beer, I get it. Can you get me some?” She asked excitedly “Where does he get it? Is it even legal? Ok, you are introducing me to cute cop, I need some of this beer Der” He mumbled something incoherent about someone called Daisy-May but Laura just ignored him and carried on the journey home, slightly excited about his parents reaction to a drunk Derek walking in. Oh she was  _ so _ going to film it.

True to her word Laura did indeed film Derek entering the house, he draped himself over Talia and buried his nose in her neck breathing deeply. She patted his arm and gently said “Is everything ok Derek?” He mumbled against her throat but nothing was understandable. 

Laura exploded with laughter and shouted “Derek’s drunk! Cute cop got him drunk!”

“Sti-les” Derek hiccupped

Talia’s mouth turned up in one corner “And how may I ask did this policeman get you drunk Derek?”

Derek leant back and grinned his loopy grin again, Laura could have screamed she was so pleased to have got it on tape “Ace” He shrugged “He is Ace and the beer is Ace”

“Ok Laura stop filming now, Derek honey let's get you to bed”

Laura did not stop filming, she followed them up to Derek’s room where Talia put him to bed, she stroked his hair and told him to sleep now and they would discuss it in the morning. She shut the door so Laura couldn't film him any longer but not before she heard Derek whisper about “Whiskey coloured eyes”. Laura couldn't wait for the morning.

Stiles shared a house with Jackson not far from his Dad’s, they rented it from Jackson’s parents so it was affordable, not that either of them had to worry too much, a cop and a lawyer earn pretty good money. Jackson was sober and Stiles was a little merry but not drunk, they both fell down onto the couch for their evening chat. It had been tradition for as long as Stiles could remember, before they lived together they would phone or video call each other to discuss their day but since they shared a house they had come home in the evening and slumped on the couch together. Stiles would often put his legs across Jackson’s lap and Jackson would act put upon but they both knew he loved it really.

“He’s cute right Jax? Writer Derek?”

“No” Jackson raised his eyebrows at Stiles as if he had said something unbelievable.

“What? Oh c’mon, those shoulders, those arms, that face” Stiles waved his arms around indicating various parts of the body “Those eyebrows” He waggled his own.

Jackson shrugged “Nope. And you” He pointed right in Stiles face “Are not to go near him, I don't want you coming home stinking the place out”

“I have to go near him Jax, he’s shadowing me”

“Get him to shadow someone else then” He casually answered,  _ yeah like it was that easy Jackson _ “It’s bad enough having to smell the Hale pack at work with Cora doing an internship at the firm, I don't want to come home and smell it too”

Stiles pulled himself closer to Jackson, he was practically on his lap “Are you jealous?” He asked wide eyed and grinning a little too manically “Oh my God, you are, you’re jealous. Aww” He stroked Jackson's face “You know you’re my favourite wolf” He teased as Jackson unceremoniously scooped him up and threw him to the other end of the couch.

“Get off me Stillinski, I am not jealous”

“Love you too” He called as Jackson stomped away. To be fair, he really couldn't stay away from Derek; he  _ had _ to see him at work. Plus, he didn't want to, the guy was super fun to wind up, and hot too.

\---------

The following day Derek took his laptop and notes and set himself up in a corner of the library. He was surrounded by books, open at various pages, he sucked on his pen in contemplation and moved his black rimmed glasses up his nose with his middle finger. He was too engrossed to realise he was being approached.

“Writer Derek” Stiles’ happy voice rang out through the library, he got a few shushes in reply so he whispered “Hey writer Derek” and gave a smug look to the librarian.

“Deputy” Derek said, removing his pen and raising his eyebrows in surprise. Stiles leant against the desk and crossed his arms. Had his uniform always been that tight around his biceps?

“Dude, call me Stiles” He rolled his eyes “C’mon, pack up, we’ve got work to do” He tapped the books and grinned down at Derek “Come on” He prompted one more time as Derek appeared to be frozen “Chop chop dude, crime waits for no-one, not even you” He winked.

Derek scrambled about grabbing at his laptop and dropping everything trying to be quick, which Stiles thought was _ fucking adorable _ . Eventually he left the books on the table and had everything he came with, nodding once he followed Stiles towards the reception area, stopping at the help desk. Stiles leant over enticingly and curled his finger a few times summoning the dark haired librarian, she approached him grinning but rolled her eyes.

“Still on for later?” Stiles asked cheekily

“Sure” She nodded and looked between him and Derek.

“Oh this is writer Derek, Writer Derek, this beauty is Kira” He pointed to each of them in turn, both simply nodded at the other one. Derek had seen her many times at the library, they seemed to have an unspoken language, both just acknowledging each other with a nod but no actual words were ever spoken. “Anyway we got bad guys to catch,” Stiles said winking, he leant over a little further and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Derek nodded again as he passed her.

When they got to Stiles’ jeep Derek narrowed his eyes a little, he said they had work to do but he drove his jeep there? Weird. He still got into the passenger seat and placed his bag down by his feet, notebook in hand and pen behind his ear.

“Kitsune” Stiles said as he pulled away.

“Hmm?”  _ Nice Derek, way to sound dumb. Again _ .

“I saw you sniff the air around Kira, you're wondering what she is, she's a Kitsune. A fox” He indicated and changed lanes.

“Oh”  _ Seriously Derek, get a grip _ .

“Get your notebook out writer Derek, I hope you’re not squeamish, cos shit’s about to get interesting” Stiles licked his lips, Derek moved the pen from behind his ear and flicked his notebook to a blank page, he added the date in the corner and waited for Stiles to elaborate.

Stiles’ phone rang, he yanked it out of his pocket and asked Derek to answer it, after hesitating for a second Derek accepted the call “Hello?” He said in what he hoped was a casual tone “Deputy Stilinski’s phone”

“Oh, er, Hi” The caller cleared her throat “This is Alison, from the dispatch desk, is Stiles available?” He could hear the grin in her voice. Derek put it on speaker so Stiles could answer himself.

“Hey!” He shouted, and  _ thanks Stiles, werewolf hearing! _

“Hey Stiles, got a PA now?”

“Yeah that's writer Derek, I’m taking him on a joy ride” He heard Alison giggle, Derek just groaned a little and rolled his eyes “What can I help you with?”

“There's been another one” Her voice suddenly solemn “By the lake, and he-” She cut off with a small sob “Stiles its Earl” She sniffed again.

“Hormones” Stiles mouthed at Derek, he could put a face to the name now, Alison was the heavily pregnant attractive brunette that sat behind the reception desk in a little room at the station “Ok Ali, same as before?”

“Yeah” Her voice cracked again.

“Listen, er, take a break and call Scott, tell Dad that writer Derek gave you permission” He grinned at Derek’s affronted noise. Alison hummed a small laugh and hung up.

“Another one?” Derek asked, as they pulled up to the edge of the preserve. Stiles parked the car close to the squad car that was already there and got out, motioning for Derek to join him before he answered.

“This is what I wanted to show you today, and while I’m technically off duty I thought this would be a good exercise in police procedure for you” He lead them down the pathway towards the lake “2 nights ago there was a body found on the edge of the lake, far enough away from Hale House that none of your family would be able to smell it” He licked his lips and ran his hands through his hair,  _ should that even be attractive while he’s talking about murder?  _ “It looked like a drowning but something about the body seemed strange to me, so I went to the morgue this morning and took these pictures” He handed his phone to Derek who flicked through them “Tell me what you see?”

“Um” Derek was trying to examine the photos when he suddenly walked into Stiles’ back and sent him flying a few steps “Shit!” He exclaimed, grabbing Stiles’ upper arm “Sorry, you ok?”

“What? You think you're the first dude I've fallen for?” Stiles winked and Derek was definitely flushing a little, which seemed to light Stiles’ face up “We’ve gotta stop here for a sec, I can't be seen to be sharing this much evidence with you” He gave him a tight lipped smile.

“Then why are you? Sharing it with me I mean?”

“Cause I’m bad” He grinned “Now, tell me what you see?”

Derek looked back a the phone, his eyebrows almost kissing with the depth of the frown “There are no signs of a struggle”

“Meaning?”

“He knew his attacker?” Derek questioned unsurely.

“Mmmhmm, but you gotta think about it from all angles dude, was it a suicide? Was he depressed and was there a note? Was it an accident? Maybe he was just swimming and got into difficulty?” He shrugged “So what would you do now?”

“Me?” His eyebrows shot up and Stiles barely contained his grin “I don't know anything about anything” He winced at his inability to form sentences around this guy, Stiles just laughed a little through his teeth, Derek looked back down at the pictures, he tilted his head a little and zoomed in “There’s a, a hickey on his neck but it seems out of place” He scowled at the photo, like it tried to hide it from him the first time he looked.

“Bingo!” Stiles said, throwing his arms up in the air, Derek could smell the excitement coming from him and it absolutely _ did not _ make him feel a little warmer “That’s what I thought was strange, so here's what we know so far” Stiles took a step closer conspiratorially “He was out fishing on the lake, his wife said there was no history of depression, there is no evidence to suggest someone else with with him or had been with him but the hickey was done just before or at the point of death, dead people don't bruise dude” Stiles put his phone back in his pocket and tugged at Derek’s sleeve “C’mon, lets see what Earl has for us” A hint of sadness in his voice. 

“I hope Dora’s ok” Derek said softly, Stiles headshot round as if surprised, but he schooled his features and snorted.

“Course she will be, she’s free to marry Parrish now, maybe you could be Daisy-May’s other God Parent? I’ll put in a good word for you” He grinned at the screwed up face he got from Derek in reply, walking backwards he lost his footing and for the second time that day Derek reached out and caught him “Shit!” He shouted. Again.  _ Nice one Stillinski, right in front of Derek Fucking Hale _ , he internally rolled his eyes at himself and carried on walking to the clearing, facing forward this time.

As they came to the clearing a deputy approached them, handing an evidence bag to Stiles, he held it up to look at the small strands of hair inside “They were found tangled in Earl’s fingers sir” The deputy said, he was about the same age as Stiles but under him in rank as Stiles had taken his police exams early, the perks of having grown up in a police environment.

Stiles saw Derek’s nose twitch out of the corner of his eye and he scribbled something in his notebook “Thanks, Greenberg, at least we know there was a blonde involved somehow” He handed the bag back and rounded on Derek when the other deputy retreated “Wanna share with the class writer Derek?” He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, at least Derek had the decency to appear bashful.

“Oh, um, I can smell saline, salt water” He tapped his pen against the notebook and hummed.

“Yeah, you probably can dude” Stiles pointed “Lake”

“No, that's a freshwater lake, I can smell salt water, it doesn't belong here, it smells wrong”

Stiles froze and inclined his head “Huh” Pausing for a second he then said “Let’s go and see the body”

Derek followed him and this was a crime scene so he absolutely didn't look at Stiles’ ass, which took a herculean effort. Besides, Derek was classy, he wouldn't lust after the pretty librarian's boyfriend.

There was a body of a middle aged man laid out on the bank of the lake, his clothes were all still on and had long since dried. It was obvious he had been wet by the way his clothes were wrinkled.

“He’s staged,” Stiles said quietly, probably only Derek was able to hear him. He pulled out his phone and flicked through a few pictures, then made a phone call “Dad?”

“ _ Hey Kiddo, everything ok _ ?” Stiles could hear the tiredness in John’s voice

“Yeah, I’m at the crime scene with writer Derek and-”

“ _ Stiles _ ” The warning clear in his voice made Derek wince “ _ It’s your day off and I’m sure Derek doesn't want to go and look at dead bodies with you _ ”

“Dad, it's cool, if writer Derek is going to write an accurate hero based on me then he’s gotta shadow me all the time. Anyway, listen, there’s a few anomalies I need to discuss with you” Stiles explained about the hickeys and what Derek was able to smell, while at the same time trying not to actually say the words werewolf,  _ because yeah Stiles, super-sniffer was so much better,  _ the sheriff knew about the supernatural, but the majority of the department didn't. “But then I noticed the position he was in, I’ve sent you the photos, have a look at the placement of vic 1 and then Earl, you got them?”

“ _ Yeah Stiles I got them _ ” John paused and Stiles could hear him breathing down the phone  _ “I think you’re right Kiddo _ ” He exhaled loudly.

“ One’s an incident, two’s a coincidence”

“ _ Let’s hope there's not a third one. Ok, good work Stiles, now take a break, go and do normal 22 year old things _ ”

“Aye aye Captain” Stiles grinned.

“ _ Love you Son _ ”

“You too Dad” Derek’s heart clenched a little at the final exchange.

\-------------

Once Stiles had dropped Derek back off at the library so he could collect his car he went back home, he had remote access to the police database from home so he could keep up with the case from there. He lay on his bed with his arms behind his head surrounded by papers and must have dozed off as the next thing he knew there was a tapping noise coming from his front door. He made a sleepy noise and yawned while checking the time on his watch.

“Kira” He said, pulling himself up and shuffling out of his bedroom and down the stairs. He pulled the door open and there stood Kira with a pizza in one hand and a movie in the other.

“Don't tell me you forgot Stillinski?” She grinned, he made a noise of disgust, like he would ever forget movie night with Kira. She made her way to the lounge while he grabbed a couple of drinks from the fridge. He fell down next to her on the sofa and handed her a bottle “Cheers” She said dinking it against his one.

“Ok foxy, start the film”

Movie night just the 2 of them had become a bit of a tradition over the past few years, they aimed to do it once a month, the rest of the pack knew about it but weren't interested in that particular genre. Jackson occasionally joined them and very rarely Scott and Alison, but it was mainly just the 2 of them, it had really helped cement their friendship.

“Where’s Jackson tonight?” Kira asked, taking a huge bite of her pizza slice.

“On a second date with Ethan, they’re going to some poncy event the law firm is holding”

“Does their boss know they’re dating yet?”

Stiles shook his head “Jax wants to be certain its going somewhere before they start getting HR involved, besides Carly from HR is a massive bitch so Jackson avoids her at all costs”

“Ethan seems nice”

“How did you know him?” Stiles only had half an eye on the movie, the majority of his attention now focused on Kira who threw her legs over his lap and leant against the arm of the sofa.

“He comes into the library sometimes with Derek” She gave him a small smile

“Why am I only finding this out now Kira” Stiles flailed almost throwing pizza topping on the floor “Ethan and writer Derek are friends? What?”

“How’s it going with him anyway?”

“Who else does Derek bring in there? Does Ethan come in with him a lot? What else are you hiding from me you sly little fox?” Stiles was wild eyed and pointing his finger at her, it was probably supposed to look threatening but she just threw her head back and laughed.

“Cora and Laura. No and I’m not hiding anything, to answer your questions. Now, tell me one more time how you  _ don't _ like the guy?”

Stiles pushed her legs good naturedly and snorted. By the time the film ended it was past midnight and Jackson was still not home. Stiles said goodbye to Kira and pulled his phone out grinning at the name he had Jackson saved as.

Stiles: _ You coming home tonight? _

Lizard Face:  _ Staying at Ethan's. What’s happened? Need me to come home? _

Stiles:  _ Calm down Lizard Face, all is fine, Kira just left. Oooh, sexy times! Be safe, I don't want to have to take you to the vets! _

Lizard Face:  _ Fuck off Stillinski  _

Stiles:  _ Good thing I know you love me Jax, a lesser man might have been offended by that statement _

He put his phone away knowing full well Jackson wouldn't reply now he knew Stiles was fine. He might be an asshole, but him and Stiles were super close, they had been ever since high school.

\--------------

Derek arrived late to shadow Stiles and Parish the following day, he walked into the station with stubble where he obviously hadnt had time to shave and what Stiles could only think of as sex hair, and this didnt help his situation, thinking of Derek and sex hair was not good.  _ Focus Stilinski! _

“Hey writer Derek, everything ok?” He smirked at the scowl he got in return, “You look like you haven't slept. Like, ever” He patted Derek’s shoulder, a slight look of concern growing on his face. Derek shrugged him off.

“I’m fine” He ran his hand through his hair and it did nothing to calm it down “Any more news on the case?”

“Another body was dropped last night” Parrish said, putting his thumbs through the belt loops on his police regulation trousers “Same as before, hickey and obviously been in the water. Coroner said Earl and victim one, who we have now identified as Clarence Tucker, a travelling drug rep who just happened to be in the area, both drowned”

Derek let out a little noise and sagged his shoulders, he didn't elaborate on his body language so Stiles filed it away to ask about later.

“So,” Stiles slapped his hands together, “What’s on the cards for today writer Derek? You coming out with us?” He waved his hand between himself and Parrish “Talking to Alison about the dispatch process?” He pointed towards reception “Or just generally hanging out at the station? Dad said you asked to stay a while longer, which is cool with us, right Parrish?” He nodded.

“I’m, um” He ran his hands through his hair again, stop doing that, it  _ does _ things to  _ me _ , Stiles brain betrayed him once again “I’m gonna stick with you if that's ok, I would like to see this case through”

Stiles shrugged “Sure, c’mon, let’s go investigate our third victim”

It was lunchtime and they stopped outside a bakery, Stiles ran in and returned a few minutes later with a bag of what smelt like ham sandwiches and a doughnut.

“Onwards Parrish” Stiles pointed towards the front of the car, looking down at his phone. A few minutes later they pulled up at the library and Stiles exited the car, jogging through the main doors and out of sight.

“He’s bringing Kira some lunch” Parrish said, turning round so he could look at Derek better, “He does it at least once a week, it's quite sweet really”

Derek nodded and hummed in agreement,  _ stupid Kira _ . 

Stiles slammed the door and rubbed his hands together as he got back in the car, pulling his seatbelt on he turned round towards Derek too. Derek felt like he had 2 Dads that were taking him out for a treat with the way they were grinning at him.

“Wanna hit the diner writer Derek?”

So, he was half right, just not about the Dad’s part. Derek nodded then put his head down and quietly said “You’ve got lipstick on your cheek”

Stiles barked out a laugh, wiping his cheek with his fingers and said “Bloody Kira”. Derek just about managed to keep his claws in.

The diner was a couple of blocks away from the B&B, the second victim, Clarence was staying at. It was owned by Erica and Boyd, close friends of Stiles and part of the McCall pack. Stiles thought it should be called the Stilinski-McCall pack considering Stiles was a crucial part of the pack being bonded, but Scott said as Alison was their emissary they were keeping it as McCall as they would soon be married. Stiles had shoved him and called him soft, but secretly he was a little jealous, he wanted a love like theirs. Someone he could come home to and tell them about his day, to hold him when he was emotional, to laugh with him, to stand strong with him. To _ love _ him. 

Stiles had given up on love a long time ago, he thinks the closest thing he will get to it is his friendship with Kira or Jackson, or a one night stand if he was into that sort of thing. Every relationship he’s ever been in he’s always been more invested than the other person, especially with Lydia, but she had moved away to work on some space thing at NASA that Stiles didn't understand. They had left on good terms and still spoke over the phone and on skype, she was still part of the pack, but he had been broken-hearted when she left.

Derek was quiet at lunch, he wasn't overly talkative at the best of times but this was different, this was like he was lost in his own mind. Parrish and Stiles shared a couple of looks during the hour they were in the diner but neither said anything. They went to search Clarence’s room, they were met at the door by Erica.

“You must be Derek?” She purred holding out a delicate hand for him to shake, she flashed her gold eyes at him to which he responded by flashing his blue “Erica, my boyfriend Boyd and I own this place” She gestured at the building, he noticed the newly painted sign saying ‘Grandma’s B&B’

“Pleasure” He said, shaking her hand and giving her a tight smile.

Erica handed Stiles the keys and told them to stay as long as they needed too before heading back into the office.

Stiles and Parrish wore blue gloves to search the room while Derek hovered in the doorway making a quick sketch and taking some notes.

“How’s the book going writer Derek?” Stiles asked, picking up a cup and sniffing it before screwing up his face.

“Slow” Derek scowled.

“Getting all the info you need?”

“Stop fishing Stiles” Parrish grinned, “He’s not going to tell you anything about it”

“Oh come on man” Stiles flailed a bit before moving to the bathroom door “Give me something? Writer Derek, come on” He sounded like a petulant child but it earned him a smirk from the werewolf “Ugh fine” He threw his hands up and went in “Use your sniffer writer Derek, make yourself useful, what can you smell?”

Derek raised his head up slightly and sniffed the air, nostrils flaring “Apart from your aftershave?” He smirked as Parrish barked out a laugh so loud it startled Stiles.

“Rude writer Derek. Rude!” Stiles shouted from the bathroom before appearing at the door and removing his blue gloves with a snap of the latex “Keep that up and I’ll start calling you rude Derek” He pointed in mock annoyance “The place is clean Parrish, nothing to see here, or smell apparently” He lolled his head on the side and gave Derek a pointed look, he just shrugged in response.

Parrish and Stiles’ radio’s crackled and Alison's voice came over the airwaves “Stiles? Parrish? Do you copy?”

Parrish pressed the button on the side and angled his face towards his shoulder “Go ahead Alison”

“You wanted me to update you on the lake case, the Sheriff said that they seemed to have some type of venom in their system, but nothing we’ve ever seen before in Beacon Hills”

Stiles grabbed his radio “Does it resemble anything? Snake? Spider?”

“Er, puffer fish or octopus”

The deputies both shared looks, Parrish answering “Thanks Alison”

“No problem”

“This case just gets weirder and weirder, ugh, what the hell is going on?” Stiles said to no-one in particular as they gathered their belongings and left. Parish dropped the keys off with Erica, leaving Stiles and Derek in the car.

“So, anything you need to discuss after work or anything writer Derek? We could grab another drink maybe?”

“My sister is desperate to try some Ace,” Derek replied, flipping through his notebook.

“Oh, yeah, sure, yeah, she can come too, sure” Stiles rolled his eyes, Derek still wasn't paying attention, he just made a grunting noise “As long as it’s not the one who works with Jackson, she’s not 21, though she could come with Jackson I suppose and we could meet them there, she doesn't have to drink”

Derek slowly raised his eyes “She's not doing anything with that prick”

Stiles huffed out a laugh, “Dude, that prick is my best friend and housemate” Derek’s nostrils flared and he closed his eyes “But yeah, he is a prick most of the time. So tonight then? After work? Me, you, Jackson and the Hale ladies?” Once again Derek just grunted.

\---------------------

“I told you” Laura said slapping Derek in the chest “I told you this would be awesome, I love this stuff” She clinked glasses with Stiles “So Stiles, Derek tells us you’re quite the hero in Beacon Hills?” Derek’s eyes widened and Stiles nudged him with his shoulder as they sat next to each other. 

“Yeah?” Stiles grinned at Derek “Like a hero in a book writer Derek?” He waggled his eyebrows and Derek had to take a swig of his drink to stop himself from smiling “I knew you were putting me in your book, I knew it!” Stiles crowed loudly making Laura and Cora giggle.

“Shut up Stiles” Jackson chastised “No-ones putting you in a fucking book, he actually wants to sell copies of it I assume?”

“Burn!” Laura squawked as Ethan approached the table. Jackson reached his hand out to pull him onto the seat next to him, he nodded greetings to everyone and turned to Cora.

“I hope you’re not drinking there little Hale?” He smiled warmly at her, she shook her head and motioned Jackson then Derek with her head.

“Do you really think I would get away with it, with these 2 here?”

“I’m going to grab a drink does any-”

“No need” A voice from behind Ethan said, Isaac placed a round of drinks on a tray down on the table “Stiles text me, because apparently I’m his slave now”

“You love it Isaac” Stiles winked “Thanks dude”

The table bantered two and fro and swapped seats several times as people went to use the restroom or get another round, apart from Stiles who just text his orders in. By the end of the evening Derek and Stiles were a little disjointed from the rest of the group, sat at the far end of the table.

“Any theories on the case?”

“Well, we’ve hit three bodies and three’s a pattern so either we’ve got a serial killer on the loose or a puffer fish or octopus in the lake” Stiles gave him a sad smile “I thought coming out tonight would give me the chance I needed to relax and come back at the case with a fresh set of eyes, but, no dice” He took a long pull of his drink, Derek tried not to look at his throat bob.

“Maybe the morning will bring clarity?” Derek wanted to be helpful but didn't really know what to say.

“Yeah” Stiles ran his hands through his hair and  _ God damn _ , he should be illegal.

They sat in silence for a few minutes deep in thought before Stiles cleared his throat and said “Look, writer Derek, I-” He placed a hand on Derek's arm.

“Octopus!” Derek shot up from his chair and grabbed his bag, kissing Laura and Cora on the cheek before running out of the bar.

“Something you said Stilinski?” Jackson shouted from the other end of the table, Stiles flipped him off.

The group gradually wound down, minus Derek who hadn’t returned, Cora drove Laura home and Ethan went to stay at Jackson and Stiles apartment. Stiles had very loudly informed them in the car park that he did not want to hear any kind of sex noises coming from Jackson’s room which earned him a blush from Ethan and a slap on the back of the head from Jackson.

\------------

“Step away from the vehicle, put your hands in the air” Parrish shouted, gun raised as Stiles rounded on the suspect from the other side of the car.

“I didn't do nothing” The grey haired man shouted as Stiles wrestled him to the ground, placing his knee on the man's lower back, he was able to subdue him to put handcuffs on.

“That’s not your car man” Stiles helped him up “C’mon, up you get, let’s get this mess sorted huh?”

“I just bought it, I swear, I just bought it”

“Mmhmm, yeah, haven't heard that one before dude” As Stiles attempted to put the suspect in the car he decided to stage a one man protest and resist, Parrish moved in and grabbed his other arm as they pushed him against the car.

“You do not have to say anything-”

“Fuck the pigs!” The guy screamed in his gravelly voice that sounded like he sang the blues in a smoky bar on a Friday night. Parrish huffed a laugh while Stiles continued to read his Miranda rights. Once he had agreed that he had both heard and understood them they wrestled him into the car, but not before he managed to headbutt Stiles in the lip. 

“Not cool,” Stiles said, wiping blood away from his mouth with the back of his hand. They both leaned up against the door to catch their breath.

“Shame Derek wasn't here for this one, he’d make a great character” Parrish indicated towards the still screaming guy in the back of the car “Where is he anyway?”

Stiles shrugged, poking his tongue out to wipe away more blood “No idea, haven't heard from him”

Parrish used the radio to update Alison on the situation and ask for a recovery truck while Stiles pulled out his phone.

Stiles: Can I get Cora’s number?

Lizard Face: No

Stiles: I need to get Derek’s number, he didn't show up this morning, don't be a dick

Lizard Face: Still no. I don’t give a shit where Hale is.

Stiles: Fine. Give Cora my number then. Jerk.

Sometimes he remembered that Jackson was actually an asshole. He climbed back into the cruiser with Parrish and the mutinous suspect.

The ride back was as expected, loud and annoying, but he soon shut up when they put him in the cells. Stiles walked over to see Alison, giving her a kiss on the cheek he sat in the chair next to her. She had one ear listening to him and the other listening to the radio in case an officer needed her.

“Well you look delightful” He grinned, Alison blushed and gave him one of her dimpled smiles.

“Thank you Stiles” She rubbed her rounded stomach “Little McCall is behaving for once”

He smiled fondly at her, he loved Alison, they’d been close since school and the fact that she’s dating one of his best friends just enhanced the friendship. She took his hand and placed it on her stomach, letting him feel the baby move.

“I can't wait to see the little puppy” 

“Stiles” She rolled her eyes grinning “He or she is not a puppy!”

“That’s what you say! So, have you heard from writer Derek today?” She shook her head “Ok, thanks Ally”

“Before you go,” She said watching him stand up, a cheeky grin on her face “Can you give these to Jordan?” She handed him a bunch of pink slips, all of them with a telephone message for Parrish on them. He looked at the name on a few of them and couldn't contain the laughter that escaped, “Yep,” Alison laughed “All from Dora”.

Parrish groaned so loudly when Stiles handed him the slips that half the precinct turned to look at him.

“Dude, you need to give Dora your number, Alison is not your personal secretary” He teased. Parrish huffed and bobbed his head forward.

“She wants me to be her ‘plus one’ to Earl’s funeral” He scrunched up his face and flicked through the slips “Who does that? Who asks someone on a date to their husbands funeral? She’s insane Stiles, it's scary” He looked at his partner wide eyed.

“Well I’m not gonna be a God-father to Daisy-May any time soon with that attitude!” His phone buzzed.

Unknown: Hey, it's Cora, Mr Whittemore said you wanted my number??

Stiles: Yeah, hey, can I grab Derek’s number from you? He didn't come into the precinct this morning.

Cora: Sure, [Derek’s number], He didn't come home last night either, I guess he met someone?

Stiles: Thanks Cora

He frowned at his phone,  _ met someone _ ? When? He was out with the group of them last night. Maybe ‘Octopus’ was a screen name on some dodgy dating app?

Stiles: Hey writer Derek, it’s Stiles, you ok dude? You didn't come into the station today?

Not how he envisioned getting Derek’s number but whatever. Kira wanted a tuna melt for lunch today so him and Parrish better get to the bakery before they’re all sold out.

“No Stiles, I’m not happy” Kira dropped a pile of books on the desk “He left a pile of ancient texts on the table and just walked out” She raised her hand to indicate towards the exit “It was like 1 o’clock in the morning according to Mason”

“Mason?” Stiles enquired “The night librarian?” Kira nodded, taking her lunch from Stiles “And he left at 1am?” She nodded again, picking up a book to scan it ready to be re-shelved “He must have been here for hours” He turned to Parrish, “He left the pub at about 10.30. Kira, what books was he looking at?” 

By this point Stiles had tried to phone Derek numerous times, both from his phone and the station one in case he was ignoring him for some reason. 

“Those” Kira pointed at the small pile of old tomes “He asked if we had a bestiary,” Stiles head shot up “I told him to speak to Scott about that”

“Why would he want a bestiary? Surely the Hales have one?” He said more to himself than the others. Stiles read the spines of the books and frowned.

“Mason was pissed” Kira continued, crossing her arms “He took photos of one of them, which is fine but he wrote in the margin of another, these are ancient books Stiles, we can't just replace them” She threw her arms up and let them drop dramatically “I have to bar him, I have no choice”

“What? Where? I need to see those books”

Kira reached under the tall desk and handed them to Stiles, who handed one to Parrish, they both began to frantically look through them. Stiles was muttering under his breath, until he finished looking through the book and ran his hand through his hair.

“Nothing, there’s nothing there” He looked over Parrish’s shoulder, who was still flicking through the book. 

Kira huffed and said “Chapter 12 Jordan, mythological sea creatures”

He flicked quickly to the chapter until he found some writing in the margin “It says Siren, why and lake. Kira, it’s in pencil, surely you can just rub it out rather than bar Derek, he’s in here all the time”

Kira shrugged, still obviously pissed while Stiles quickly flicked through the other book again until he got to a chapter on Sirens. He scanned the page, his head flew up and he looked at Parrish “I know where he is” He dropped the book on the counter and grabbed him by the arm, “C’mon, c’mon” He scrambled towards the door with Parrish in pursuit.

Stiles tore out of the car park, heading towards the preserve, he tried to explain his theory to Parrish, who at this point was unconvinced.

“But they aren't real Stiles, they’re fiction”

“What? How can you say that?” He looked at him incredulously and almost missed the turning, throwing the car round the corner and making Parrish hit his head on the window “I bet people think that about werewolves too, and, and Hellhounds, you think people think hellhounds are real? No! And yet here I am sitting next to one” Stiles scoffed “Unbelievable!”

He pulled into a parking space in the preserve car park and jumped out of the car, taking off towards the lake, Parrish shut the doors before running after him.

Stiles arrived at the lake, eyes scanning the area, sure he was about to find Derek’s body or see him canoodling with whoever ‘Octopus’ is.

“Go that way, I’ll go this way” Stiles pointed to one direction then the other, they both went in opposite directions in order to search around the lake for any clues. Both shouting his name, with no answer. Stiles phoned him again but it just went to the answerphone, probably a dead battery.

They had been searching for about an hour when Stiles spotted something near a tree, as he got closer he realised it was Derek’s messenger bag laying open on the floor with his notebook and pen laying nearby and his phone on top of it.

“Shit” Stiles grabbed his phone out and called Parrish to come and find him. He scoured the area looking for more clues or anything at all that would indicate where Derek was. He rubbed his hand down his face and took a deep breath. He sat beside the messenger bag and grabbed Derek’s notebook, flicking it open to read his last notes.

_ Siren? Tail colour? Venom- Tetrodotoxin? Blue Ringed Octopus! _

Everything before that seemed to be related to the previous bodies found, this was the only new information. Stiles raked his hand through his hair as Parrish walked over to him.

“Derek’s stuff” Stiles motioned to the pile on the ground “Phone batteries dead” His phone rang from his pocket, he picked it up without looking to see who it was.

“Deputy Stillinski” He answered distractedly.

“That’s how you’re answering the phone to pack now Stiles?”

“Erica” He breathed out “What can I do for you?”

“Tame that writer of yours for a start” She laughed.

“Writer Derek?” His head shot up and he stared at Jordan as he spoke “Is he there? Is he ok?”

“What? No. I mean, he was here last night, well this morning about 1.30, he insisted that Boyd had to open the safe in the travelling drug reps room, the one you were in the other day. I thought for one amazing second Boyd was gonna wolf out on him. Now that fight would have been hot!”

“Erica!” Stiles said through gritted teeth “Just get to the point”

“Ugh. Fine. You’re no fun today Stiles. There’s a box in the safe but we can't get near it, it’s probably made from mountain as-”

“On my way” Stiles cut her off, grabbing Derek's phone but leaving the rest of his belongings scattered how they were originally, he made sure Parrish had called the station to get officers to properly scour the area and conduct a thorough search before once again tearing out of the car park towards Grandma’s B&B.

“Hello to you too Stiles” Erica snarled as he pushed past her into the room, his eyes searching for the safe, he threw himself down on the floor and reached for the box. It was a brown wooden box with no distinguishing features, it felt smooth in his hand. Popping the lid he could see a vial of violet liquid set into the wood inside, like the box was specially made for housing this vial.

He raised his eyebrows and stared at Parrish, who shrugged, it was Erica that looked alarmed.

“Stiles” She said, her pretty eyes going impossibly wide “Do. Not. Drop. That. Box” She could hear his heart rate increase slightly, she turned to Parrish “Get Boyd”.

“Erica, you're scaring me, what’s in my hands right now?” His hands began to shake, he felt like he was suddenly going to have a spasm and drop the box or something, swallowing hard, he asked again “Erica?”

Boyd sauntered into the room, coming to a sudden stop, Stiles watched his nostrils flare and even though he knew he wouldn't be able to smell anything, he couldn't resist sniffing the air himself. Boyd glanced at Erica and gently placed his hand in hers. Stiles loved that about Boyd, he was such a gentle giant.

“Stiles?” His voice soft, softer than Stiles had ever heard it before “Can you gently close the lid of the box?” Stiles followed Boyd’s instructions and stood up, the other 3 taking a step back from him.

“Am I contagious? What the fuck guys, come on, what is this stuff” He shook the box a little causing Parrish to put his hands up, palms forward in a placating manor.

“You need to get that to Deaton” Erica began, her voice a little shaky “It smells like, like danger” She sniffed the air “Definitely highly concentrated wolfsbane” She glanced at Boyd who nodded “And something, I can't place it, but its sharp smelling, so probably a poison of some kind”

“The guy was a drugs rep, maybe he was peddling this stuff, whatever it is?” Stiles said, assuming that being the only human that he wasn't at risk in the same way, yeah wolfsbane  _ could _ hurt him but not like it can to weres.

Erica and Boyd gave them a wide berth after filling them in on Derek’s erratic behaviour, which, he now owed Erica and Boyd an apology and a new bathroom door after Derek’s fist went through it.

Deaton looked a little nervous at the prospect of testing the vial of unknown liquid but said he would have something for them by the end of the day. Not soon enough for Stiles who decided to question the family. Pulling up at the Hale house Stiles rubbed his eyes a little, the house was huge, right in the middle of the preserve, it had been rebuilt by Peter Hale after the fire. The whole town knew about it but no-one discussed it, the remaining Hales, Talia, Peter, Derek, Cora and Laura kept themselves to themselves on the whole. Stiles saw Derek’s camaro parked in the drive and let out a small sigh of relief. Surely that was a good sign?

“Mr Hale” Parrish said as Peter pulled the door open with force, he made no secret of sniffing the air around them before humming and nodding his head slightly.

“Deputy Parrish, Deputy Stillinski” Stiles wasn't aware they had ever met before, but then again being the Sheriff's son made him stick out a bit so he wasn't too surprised that Peter knew his name “What can I do for you?” His smile was tight and a little scary, it didn't go unnoticed that he didn't invite them in.

“Can we come in? We would like to discuss Derek with you” Parrish said matter of fact.

Peter seemed to consider them for a moment before silently stepping back and making a sweeping arm gesture for them to enter. Stiles looked around subtly as they entered, impressed by the craftsmanship of the grand wooden staircase in the middle of the hall.

“This way, my sister is away on business at the moment, she left yesterday” Peter pointed with his head for them to follow. Leading them into the kitchen, he motioned for them to take a seat at the breakfast bar, standing on the other side of it he filled up the whistling kettle before placing it on the stove. He eyed both deputies suspiciously “So what was it about my nephew you wanted to discuss?”

“When did you last see Derek?” Parrish asked as he shuffled in his chair a bit, he never did like high stalls, they made him feel unstable.

“Hmm” Peter scratched his beard “Yesterday, he and I had brunch together before I dropped Cora off at work and I imagine he went to follow you around like a lost puppy Deputy Stillinski?” He smirked at Stiles, who at this point, was just honestly a little confused.

“Have you heard from him in any way since then?” Parrish continued, un-erred by the indication towards Stiles.

“A text, maybe two” Peter was clearly not forthcoming with information much to the deputies annoyance.

“Look, Mr Hale-” Stiles began.

“Peter” He folded his arms “Call me Peter” Stiles realised that his body language did not match the calmness of his voice and felt a small pang of, something, not sure what, but  _ something _ in his chest as he realised how much like Peter, Derek was. 

“Peter. Derek didn't turn up for work this morning and no-one’s heard from him since 1.30 this morning, and we found-”

“Stiles,” Parrish said, the warning clear in his raised eyebrows, but Stiles carried on regardless.

“We found his bag and stuff by the lake. Did he visit the lake often?”

“What do you mean ‘and stuff’, what stuff?” He widened his stance a bit as if taking on a sturdier pose.

“Phone, notebook, wallet” Stiles chewed his bottom lip while regarding Peter “Did he like to spend time at the lake?”

Peter scoffed “Not unless he was courting. You said you found his notebook, which one?”

“The one he used to write notes in” Stiles’ tone a little short “Obviously”

“The brown one, or the red one?” He spat

“Er, the brown one i think” Parrish was a little unsure of the significance but answered as best he could.

“Are you sure?” He pointed an accusatory finger at Parrish, stepping forward “Are you sure it was the brown one?”

“Woah, Peter-”

Stiles didn't get his full sentence out before Peter shouted “Was it the brown one?” The kettle began to shake and whistle obnoxiously, for a loaded minute Peter didn't move, the room slowly filling with kettle steam, he shouted over the din “Answer me?” His eyes flashed blue, Parrish’s eyes responded by flashing orange, like a flame had lit behind them. Stiles reached over and flipped the lid on the spout of the kettle to stop the commotion.

“Yes. It was absolutely the brown one” Stiles didn't take his eyes off Peter as he moved round the bar to the stove, he removed the kettle from the hob and turned it off, Peter watching his every move, Stiles had never felt more like prey in his life.

“Then if you’ll excuse me gentleman, I have a nephew to track”

“Peter, wait, what’s the significance of the brown notebook?”

Peter had turned away from them, he looked back slightly over his shoulder, speaking quietly he said “He decided he wanted to be a writer when he was 12, I bought him a certain type of notebook to keep his ideas in. He must have at least 30 of them by now, well, would have had, the fire took most of them. They’re all exactly the same make and colour. I haven't seen him without one since that day. He wouldn't leave that lying about just anywhere. It’s his life”

“There’s more” Stiles said quietly “Look, we know you can track him, but you need to work with us on this, Peter, please?”

He hesitated before leaving the room, the deputies looked at each other, unsure what to do with just being left in the kitchen.

“Well come on then” They heard Peter call and Stiles could swear he heard the eye roll in his voice.

Once at the lake Stiles watched Peter closely as he maneuvered himself under the police tape and towards Derek’s belongings, he saw him tilt his head a little as if hearing something, but then immediately focused back on the scene in front of him.

“Anything?” Stiles asked, walking towards Peter with his hands in his pockets

Peter shook his head “Nothing you don't already know” Turning to face Stiles he continued “But you may want to give the other deputies a reason why I’m here, their imaginations really are running away with them”

Stiles raised himself up onto the balls of his feet and sucked in a gulp of air “Yeah, Parrish?” He turned to Jordan, “Can you tell the others that Peter is here to ID Derek’s stuff?” He nodded and trundled off towards the other officers.

“You seem” Peter paused “Affected by this” He continued to look over Derek’s things, subtly following the scent and ignoring the tightness in his chest.

“Yeah, Derek’s my friend, he’s been shadowing me for the last couple of weeks, how could I not be affected?”

Stiles followed Peter as he walked towards the waters edge, looking out over the lake he sighed “His scent leads here, and then stops”

“Does it still smell like saline?”

Peter sniffed the air dramatically and Stiles stifled a laugh thinking how much like a dog Peter looked in that moment.

“Yeah, saline and Derek” He bent down and pulled something out of the reeds, holding it out in front of Stiles he cleared his throat and said “Derek’s glasses” He didn’t succeed in keeping his voice from cracking so he coughed again.

“Shit” Stiles mumbled under his breath, shouting “Parrish?” and gesturing for his partner to join them “Bring a baggie”

They remained in silence while Jordan made his way over to them, holding out the open bag he let Peter put Derek’s clearly mangled glasses inside. 

“He's in the lake”

“Peter are you sure?” Parrish looked alarmed

Peter tapped his nose and smirked “Familial scent is strong deputy. I’m telling you, he’s in the lake”

“Library” Stiles said, pulling on Parrish’s arm “C’mon, library.”


	2. Jesus! What is that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thank you so much for reading the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed it? There is a trigger warning for water, so if you're not comfortable reading about it then please feel free to join us back in chapter 3.

Kira jumped as the doors to the library suddenly flew open as Stiles and Jordan burst through them. Stiles crashed into the front desk causing Kira to take a step back, wide eyed she asked “Any news?”

“Do you have a map of the lake?” Stiles ignored her question in favour of his own “The lake on the preserve?” She pointed to a map of Beacon Hills up on the wall behind him, he turned quickly wrenching his neck a little but he didn't have time to whinge about that now “No! Not a location map, a topographical map, I need to know what’s in the lake” He didn't mean to snap, he just wanted the information, immediately.

“Ok, ok” Kira held her hands up “You don't get to speak to me like that Stiles” She said as her fingers tapped at the keyboard “Stressed or not”

“Sorry” He mumbled as Peter walked through the door, adjusting his coat sleeves and looking unphased by the entire thing.

“Well?” He said looking between Stiles and Jordan and raising his eyebrows.  _ Huh, so the eyebrows is a Hale thing, good to know Stiles nodded silently to himself. _

“Waiting for Kir-”

“This way” Kira cut him off and walked quickly towards the local history section, she scanned the shelves before pulling out a long cardboard tube. Popping the lid open, which sounded a lot like a pringles tube, she pulled the map out. Stiles automatically took one side of it as she held the other “It’s not the most detailed map in the world but it’s the only one we’ve got”

“Thank you Kira” Stiles said smiling, “This is great”

After several moments of the four of them staring at the map, it was Stiles who spoke first “Caves can hold pockets of air right? Like, huge pockets of air, what if Derek’s stuck in one of those? You said yourself he went in the water Peter, right? So we need to check those caves” He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the map, kissed Kira on the cheek and jogged towards the exit, he shouted for the others to join him.

They followed at a slightly slower pace, Peter could smell the waves of anxiety coming from Jordan, hellhounds and water don't really mix. He smirked, another reason why werewolves are superior. Stiles already had the patrol car running by the time Jordan and Peter got to the carpark, the latter following behind in his own car, though pretty sure where Stiles was heading. It soon became clear when they pulled up outside Stiles apartment that it was not the lake he was heading to, he hopped out, scurrying inside at breakneck speed, he flung the door open and Jacksons head appeared from on the couch

“Fuck Stillinski, you’re supposed to be at work”

A second head popped up from beneath Jackson, and Ethan gave him a tight smile. Stiles put his hand up to block the view of that side of the room and ran to his bedroom shouting “Jackson you twat! I’m not looking, I’m not looking”

“You better fucking not be!” 

Stiles didn't hear any movement, both men remained in their boxer shorts on the couch in a compromising position, as he ran back past them with his bag, once again blocking his view he said “When you’re done, burn the fucking couch Jax” and slammed the door.

Throwing his bag into the back seat he climbed back into the driver’s side, Jordan gave him a sideways glance “You ok Stiles?”

Stiles pulled away a little faster than necessary “Jackson and Ethan were enjoying some afternoon delight on the couch. I have to sit on that couch dude. Fucking wolves have no shame” Jordan stifled a laugh.

Peter wasted no time stripping off down to his boxer shorts, which were black thank God, Stiles did not need to see him in white ones. Stiles was a little slower, he had already put his swim shorts on in his room, Parrish familiarised himself with the map on Stiles’ phone.

“Ok so if you head out towards the small island in the centre, take a left towards the overhanging tree and the cave should be around there” He grabbed Stiles shoulder “Are you sure you don't want to wait for the dive team to arrive?”

“You heard my Dad in the car Parrish, it will be almost 4 hours before the nearest dive team can get here, Derek can’t wait that long”

“I can go alone” Peter said nonchalantly “I’m a strong swimmer”

“No!” Stiles exclaimed, “We go together or not at all” Peter shrugged.

The water was freezing cold, not that it bothered Peter, but Stiles could feel his toes wanting to cramp and they were only at waist height.

“You ok deputy?”

“Call me Stiles and yes” His teeth chattered as he spoke. 

It took longer than he expected to reach the island but they both took a left as instructed and went to where they thought was about half way, Peter cocked his head and said “Parrish said a little further”. They kept swimming until Peter stopped again and looked down “He said it's about here” Stiles nodded.

The water was clear but the reeds on what he presumed was the top of the cave made it too dark to see from above water. They argued a little over who was going to do the initial scouting for the cave entrance and eventually decided to take it in turns with Stiles going first as Peter tread water to stay afloat. They were taking deep breaths and holding it for as long as possible before popping back up to the surface. Stiles was beginning to get frustrated and tired, he scrubbed his hands through his hair, flicking droplets of water everywhere as Peter surfaced, spraying water like some kind of whale.

“Found it!” He said, still spitting water all over the place “It’s here!” He was about 15 metres away from Stiles, who immediately swam over to him “Woah there deputy” Peter put a hand out to steady him “If you're too tired you're no good to me down there” They had been in the water for about 45 minutes at this point. Stiles shook his head.

“Not tired” He said, clearly lying, Peter would be able to tell even if he couldn't hear his heartbeat “We need to work together on this Peter, I mean it,  _ together.  _ It’s too dangerous to go alone”

“There is a small pocket of air when you reach the cave entrance, we will reconvene there” Peter dipped below the water and Stiles followed, it was a struggle to get to the depth needed and Stiles was desperate to take a breath by the time they passed under the roof of the cave and above the water line.

“I need you to swim faster than that dude” Stiles gasped for air “And this is not a pocket, its a fucking bubble!”

They had to angle their heads back and face upwards in order to keep their mouths above the water, their faces dangerously close to the jagged rocks of the cave.

“Don't be a baby Stiles, it’s not that bad. I can smell Derek, and fish, saltwater fish but not like anything I've smelt before. Female, definitely”

“How do you know it's female?” Stiles screwed up his face, missing Peters utter look of disdain.

“I can smell her perfume” Peter deadpanned “Pheromones you moron, just like I can smell you’re nervous”

Stiles chose to ignore that statement and really wanted Peter to stop sniffing him, it makes him feel gross, like when dogs sniff your butt.

Peter volunteered to go on ahead, Stiles dipped down into the water and pulled out a large reed, telling Peter to take one side of it before he left and to tug on it if he needed Stiles to pull him back. After a few choice words Peter agreed and disappeared below the waterline. He popped back up less than a couple of minutes later spraying Stiles in the face with water as he did.

“Next pocket is bigger and only about 5 meters away, come on” He disappeared again, Stiles quickly followed. This time there was enough room for them both to lay on their backs and float, giving their burning limbs a break. The roof was higher but it was so dark they couldn't tell how high, Stiles stretched one of his arms up as far as he could but couldn't feel the ceiling. They once again argued over who was going to explore the next bit, Peter once again pointing out that he could smell if they were going the right way whereas Stiles would just be guessing.  _ Fucking wolves _ . He did however, agree once again take the reed and tug on it 3 times for Stiles to follow him, which now Stiles was looking at it, it looked more like rope, he just got lucky pulling it up, it could have been much harder, he probably would have had to chew through it with his teeth and- stopping mid thought he felt the tug of the reed, waiting for all 3 pulls he took a deep breath and followed the green line underwater. It was his turn to spit water at Peter this time, he surfaced dramatically, how he had seen orcas break the surface on National Geographic.

“Shhhhh!” Peter pressed his hand over Stiles face, who immediately fell silent, but scowled at him for the unprovoked attack. Peter tilted his head, getting up in Stiles personal space he whispered “I can hear something, it sounds like,” Another head tilt “Humming? And some growling, which is definitely Derek” Stiles eyes widened, his heart began to beat faster. Derek was alive. “Ok, wait here, I’ll grab Derek and meet you back here”

Stiles grabbed his arm “No fucking way! You are not going in there alone Peter, it’s too dangerous”

“Wolf” Peter pointed at himself and used his most condescending tone.

“Yeah and whatever  _ that _ is managed to kill 3 men AND take Derek, we go together”

Peter refrained from singing ‘Like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong’, now was not the time for Grease quotes, or letting Stiles in on his secret love of musicals, anyway, he digresses “Fine. Stay with me then, I’m here to save Derek, not you, do I make myself clear? Just Derek” He flashed his blue eyes at Stiles.

“Blue” Stiles huffed “Why am I not surprised?”

Stiles followed him until they came to a wide opening, both men bobbed their heads up slowly, the cave area was about the same size as Stiles and Jacksons living room in their apartment. It was a horseshoe shape with a rock ledge running around it above the water line, the whole area took on a green hue, Stiles looked up, it looked like stars on the roof above him, high enough to stand up in comfortably, he squinted at the ‘stars’.

“Huh” He quietly huffed “Snails”

A loud hissing sound bounced off the walls as Peter once again shoved his hand over Stiles’ mouth.

\----------

Parrish paced along the bank of the lake chewing on his fingernails when Stiles’ phone began to ring, the name ‘Lizard Face’ flashed up on the screen and he smirked, only Stiles could get away with that.

“Hey Jackson” He tried to keep his voice neutral.

“Where the fuck is Stillinski? Why’s he not answering my texts?”

“He’s working” Parrish used his ‘you asked a dumb question’ voice

“So?”

“So, he cant talk to you while he’s working”

“But you can? Bullshit, put him on”

“He’s busy, he can't come to the phone right now”

There was a long stretch of silence before Jackson spoke again, this time it was low and menacing, Parrish hated that voice, it was weird “Where. The. Fuck. Is. Stiles?” Parrish hummed “You let him go in the fucking lake didnt you? You fucking idiot. I’m on my way” Jackson hung up, leaving Parrish staring at the phone. He poked his tongue out,  _ so what  _ if it was childish, no-one was here to see it.

Not more than 20 minutes had gone by before Jackson burst out of the trees with Laura and Cora in hot pursuit. He ran up to Parrish and stood so close to him he could feel his breath on his chin.

“Jackson, calm down, step back and I’ll fill you in ok?”

“Where’s Derek?” Cora asked in a small voice, Laura put an arm round her and pulled her into her side.

“Where the fucks Stillinski? If he’s hurt I swear to God Parrish, I will take this out on you” Jackson flashed his eyes at Jordan, who responded by flashing his own. Laura rolled her eyes.

“Cut the macho shit and tell us what's happening Jordan?”

Parrish stood with his back to the water, the other three stood around him like he was telling a story at a campfire. Jackson did eventually step back, but only so he could stroke a hand down Cora’s arm. Laura squinted at the familiarity for a moment but let it go in favour of hearing what Jordan had to say.

“We got this map from Kira” He waved the map around, their eyes all followed it “And discovered there is a cave in the lake, after finding Derek’s glasses on the bank. Peter and Stiles decided that waiting 4 hours for a dive team was ridiculous, hence why Stiles ruined your afternoon’s,” He paused and raised his eyebrows “activities” Jackson cleared his throat and the girls tried not to laugh “he was getting his swim stuff. We worked out where the cave was and in they went”

“How long ago did they go in the lake Jordan?” Laura tried to keep her voice level so she didn't worry Cora, who was getting a bit pissed at being treated like a baby all of a sudden to be honest.

Parrish looked at his watch “Almost 3 hours ago” He winced as Stiles' phone began to ring again, Deaton’s name flashed up on the screen, well actually it said ‘font of supernatural knowledge’ but Parrish knew who it was, he answered it and had a short conversation, which the others could hear very clearly given they were all werewolves.

Jackson exploded, it was like the incredible hulk, he began to growl and tear off his clothes, shreds of shirt flying everywhere as he clawed at the material. He did have the sense to remove his trousers properly though, which Laura was very pleased about. As he reached the water’s edge he saw a head pop up from the edge of the island, Peter coughed a little and made his way back towards the group of people. He shook himself as he stood up in the waist high water and walked the rest of the way.

“Uncle Peter!” Cora shouted and ran towards the dripping mess in the shape of Peter Hale.

\--------

“What the fuck was that?” Stiles stage whispered, Peter just pointed. Following his finger Stiles could see a mermaid perched protectively on the rocks, not the sort of mermaid you see in films, all sexy and wearing a shell bra, this one was like something out of a nightmare. She had long blonde hair and a mouth full of sharp shark like teeth,  _ that explains the hissing then _ , her long dark tail ended in a row of razor sharp spikes, Stiles couldn't make out any colourings as it was too dark and everything looked a bit green but she was certainly no Ariel “Oh god” He couldn't stop himself “That’s disgusting”

There was a huge splash and Peter disappeared, it was like that moment in jaws, at the beginning when he pulled the girl under the water, he just vanished. Stiles kicked his feet frantically looking around “Peter!” He shouted “Peter!”

In a large tidal wave Peter was dragged from the water and thrown on the rocky ledge next to whatever she had been protecting. Stiles didn't have time to think before icy fingers gripped his ankle and pulled. Being dragged underwater backwards fucking sucked, your nose filled with water and you couldn't see anything. He winced in pain as she dragged him up the rocks feeling his skin ripping against them, she threw him beside Peter. Leaning over them both, mouth open and dripping with saliva she was making noises that you wouldn't expect a lady to make. Her voice was high pitched, she screamed so loudly both men put their hands over their ears and held their breath, anything to make it stop. She rolled backwards on her tail and lined her body up with the one she had been protecting earlier. Stiles lifted himself up slightly so he could see better, nudging Peter he nodded towards Derek who was in his beta shift laying on the rocks. He had his legs bound in the same sort of reeds they had used earlier, making them into a tail from his hips to his feet which were turned outwards to mimic fins. He had no shirt on and his hair was sticking up all over the place.  _ All his hair. All his glorious hair. Focus Stiles _ . The water was catching the light off the things that looked like stars, but on closer inspection were actually snails with bioluminescent slime, much less romantic, but he looked fucking beautiful, despite the danger Stiles knew his breath hitched.

She ran her hand through Derek's chest hair and up the side of his face, into his hair, he pushed into her touch and growled with pleasure. Stiles had often wondered what Derek would sound like being touched like that but it was usually him doing the touching, not a fish woman.

“Writer Derek?” Stiles said quietly shifting so he was kneeling up, she paused her movement and hissed in Stiles’ direction, Derek appeared to completely ignore him.

“C’mon Derek, let’s go” Peter said in an assertive tone which earned them another hiss and a low growl from Derek, who didn't seem in the least bit interested in leaving.

Stiles moved forward a bit, Peter grabbed his arm but he just batted it away, “Hey” He said gently “What’s your name?” She slowly turned to face him, hand still in Derek’s hair, scowling, “I’m Stiles” He pressed a hand to his chest “And he’s Peter” He pointed to Peter and then to Derek “He’s Derek” He then pointed to her “You are?” She furrowed her brows further a little and made a sound that sounded like orcas when they fought “Ok, great” Stiles clapped his hands together “That’s a little hard to pronounce so let's go with Ariel ok?” He smiled and pressed his hand to his chest again “Stiles” he repeated and pointed to her “Ariel” She hissed and raised a clawed, webbed hand at him “Ok, ok” He held his hands up, palms facing her “Not Ariel. How about Rachel?” He pointed, she hissed “Lucy?” More pointing, more hissing. This went on for Abigail, Chloe and Gloria “At this rate we’re gonna end up calling you something ridiculous like Spangle” He huffed a laugh, she tilted her head to the side “Spangle?” He repeated and she once again tilted her head “Great, so, Stiles, Peter, Derek and Spangle” She watched him intently as he pointed to each person, she tensed when he pointed to Derek. 

Peter was unusually quiet which Stiles was thankful for until he said “Spangle? Really Stiles?”

“I was under pressure, Prince Eric didn't have this problem, he had a seagull whispering to him, all I’ve got is a sarcastic wolf” Stiles spat back, he could hear Peter asking what the hell he was talking about, like  _ he _ hadn't seen the little mermaid, pfft. The rise in voices caused her to hiss and open her mouth again showing rows of sharp pointed teeth “Ok so you're a siren, cool, so” He licked his lips, they tasted disgusting “Never seen a siren before, we should all be good as long as you don't sing” He gave her a lopsided smile. Peter moved to sit by Stiles, Derek still looked like he was in utter bliss as she continued to stroke his face “Erm, see, the problem is, Derek here” He tapped his legs? Tail? Whatever the hell was going on there, he tapped it, slipping a little on the slimy rocks, she made another unpleasant noise “No touching Derek, got it” He raised his hands, palms forward again “He belongs on land, with, with us, with other mammals” She watched Stiles speak, seeming to like it when he spoke which Peter thought was just ridiculous,  _ wait until you are 4 hours in and he still hasn't stopped talking, then you won't enjoy it so much _ .

“Look, mermaid or siren or whatever you are, we’re gonna need Derek back now, ok?” Peter moved forward and in the blink of an eye she had almost folded herself in half to reach a clawed hand out and slap him. Stiles huffed out a laugh.

“Nice one Peter, I see you're especially great at hostage negotiations, sit over there, I got this”

Scooting back Peter frowned and said “What do you mean you got this? If you get my nephew killed Stiles, she will be the last of your problems” He flashed his eyes. Stiles rolled his and flapped a hand in his direction.

“Yeah, yeah, scary wolf, I got it”

“Your lack of fear around wolves will eventually get you killed” Peter spat “Now what did you mean when you said, you got this?”

“She’s a siren, so usually they kill sailors with their song by luring them in and drowning them, but they are also super loving, like, they need a mate to survive. Literally to survive, they can die of loneliness. If she’s alone down here then she might have chosen Derek as her mate, but” Stiles smirked “If Derek’s already got a mate, she has to let him go, you can’t be mated to more than one person”

“Great plan genius, Derek hasn't got a mate” Peter didn't take his eyes off the siren, he didn't trust her not to suddenly lunge and grab either himself or Stiles.

Waggling his eyebrows suggestively he said “He does now” Stiles slowly edged forward again “Spangle?” She turned towards him, face still dangerously close to Derek's “Can I just?” continuing to move forward slowly on his knees he maintained eye contact with her “I just need to” He was at Derek’s hips when he stopped, he could hear her making quiet hissing noises, she reminded him of a rattlesnake “Writer Derek” He pointed “Belongs to Stiles” He pointed towards himself, “Writer Derek”, pointing at him again “Does not belong to Spangle” He pointed at her, she snapped at his fingers, he yanked them out of the way, slapping Derek in the abdomen in the process, earning him a growl from the,  _ the? The merwolf? Is that a thing? _ Anyway, he exhaled sharply and nodded “No pointing, got it”

At this point Peter was pretty convinced that at least one of them was going to die, truth be told he hoped it would be Stiles, he’s the one that got them into this in the first place and he was  _ not _ about to lose his only remaining nephew to a fucking mermaid. He remained quiet, eyes trained on the siren, at least if she attacked Stiles he could grab Derek and make an escape.

Stiles pushed his luck a little further by placing a hand on Derek’s chest and then to his own. He didn't say anything to her, didn't know what to say, not that she’d understand anyway, but he tried his best to put his point across. He let himself put the emotion he felt for Derek behind the push of his hand, hoping that she would in some way realise how he felt.

The siren tilted her head and watched as Stiles did it again, the second time she was a little more aggressive pushing his hand away and stroking a hand through Derek’s chest hair. It sounded like she was whispering lovingly to him, but it was kind of bubbly and almost like a song. When Derek turned his head more towards her, Stiles watched her lean over and place her mouth over his neck, not like she was going to rip his throat out with her teeth, more like she was going to kiss him. Stiles felt weird, porn with writer Derek is definitely a fantasy of his but not with a mermaid. He knew his eyes widened when she began to suck on Derek’s neck, his cheeks flushed a little at the intimate gesture.

“Are you?” He chuckled, placing a hand over his mouth “Are you giving him a hickey?”

“No!” Peter shouted and jumped up, she snapped her head towards him and hissed wildly, making Stiles lean back “Stiles, stop her” She pushed him against the hard rocks and grabbed Peter by the arm, using her sizable fangs to bite deeply into his skin, he could feel the burn only seconds before he fell unconscious. 

Derek made a low grunting noise bringing Stiles’ attention back to him momentarily, he reached a hand up in the air, Stiles went to take the offering but was dragged backwards and thrown over Peter. This one hurt, his ribs felt like they were on fire and it was hard to catch his breath. He was surprised at the level of gentleness she showed to Derek as she took his hand and rubbed it on her face, he was reaching for her, not Stiles. 

He sat up next to Peter and brought his wrist to his lap, the skin was cut cleanly, like it had been pressed into with razors, it had not yet healed over but definitely showed signs of granulation. The man himself however was still out cold, he continued to hold onto it, monitoring the healing process.

Stiles doesn't know how long they stayed there, Peter unconscious and the siren and Derek making moon eyes at each other until she moved suddenly, diving into the cold water and swimming beneath the reeds. Stiles shook Peter violently, he made a groaning noise so Stiles slapped him “Peter, c’mon, wake up” He tapped on his cheek in a way he hoped was annoying enough to rouse him “Wake. Up” He demanded.

Peter opened his eyes a little, Stiles felt frantic at this point, he dropped Peter and rushed over to Derek, throwing himself onto his knees next to him “Hey writer Derek” He extended the words in a soft sing-song voice, Derek looked at him with unseeing eyes, his pupils blown wide.

“It’s the venom” Peter groaned, his body felt so heavy he could barely move it, not a good sign “She’s keeping him drugged” He managed to slump against the back wall, not yet able to fully move “This is worse than Kanima venom” He added quietly.

“Ok, ok, so venom, what do we know about venom, we need to suck it out right?” Stiles looked over Derek's body, hands hovering above him.

“If you suck any part of my nephews body in front of me Stiles I shall kill you” He didn't sound like he was joking, Stiles looked at him slack jawed and spluttered a little “Besides, It won’t work, its coursing through his body already, we have to try and stop her from dosing him again, give him the chance to fight what's already in his system. Talk to him. 

“About what?”

“Stiles” Peter huffed “You talk non-stop, don’t tell me you can't think of anything to say to him right now, tell him about a tv programme you like, or your favourite facts, just let him hear a voice he recognises”

“ok, right, yeah, ok” Stiles looked down at Derek staring blankly up at him, still in his beta shift “Hey writer Derek, you need to come home now dude, you’ve got a novel to finish” He began to gesture wildly “And, and you need to stop mucking about pretending you’re a merwolf or whatever and get back on land. I mean, look at this” He waved a hand over Derek’s reed tail “It’s fucking ridiculous, ok so you might look adorable like that but you can’t  _ stay _ that way, so wake the hell up and let’s leave” Derek’s pointed ears slowly began to get back to normal, Peter rolled his hand at Stiles for him to continue “And, I’d like to take you out for a drink writer Derek” He scrubbed the back of his neck, Peter could smell the nervousness coming off him in waves, how unpleasant “if you want too that is, no pressure” He held his hands up “It’s cool if you don’t but I just thought since we both flirt, well that’s mainly me actually but I’m sure I’ve seen you look in my direction more than once”

“Stiles?” Derek’s voice was gravelly and sounded painful, but it bought Stiles back from his ridiculous speech “Wha- where- Stiles?” He tried to lift his head but it began to pound so he laid back down.

“Hey writer Derek” He smiled, it showed way too many of his teeth but he didn’t care, he felt happy “You back with us?”

Derek began to struggle against the reeds binding his legs, he sat up and looked around wildly, his hair looked like Stiles imagined it would after sex,  _ not that he imagined Derek having sex at all, at least not at work, ok that was a lie too, shut up _ . He flapped his legs around and pulled at the reeds “Stiles, there’s a siren” He shifted into a seated position, still pulling at his legs “We need to leave, like now, and- Peter?” He froze as he took in his Uncles crumpled form slumped against the cave wall.

“At your service” He saluted.

“We don't have time for this, she’ll be back any second, Stiles help me” 

As Stiles reached for the reeds he was engulfed by a blanket of water, something cold and slimy grabbed his arm, he tried to pull it back but he could feel the skin popping as claws ripped into him, he shouted in pain. As the water cleared from his eyes he began to see the siren sat on her tail beside him, she looked furious.

“Hey” Stiles lengthened the word “So?” He just smiled and shrugged, “The thing is Spangle-”

“Spangle?” Derek lifted one eyebrow and Stiles wanted to lick his face, damn he missed those brows.

“Yeah dude, that's her name. Right?” He faced her, her features had softened a little and she tilted her head to the side again, she seemed to like it when Stiles spoke “The thing is Spangle, you can't have merDerek” Derek rolled his eyes,  _ merDerek, really Stiles? _ “Because he’s” He paused licking his lips, he side eyed Derek a little but kept his focus mainly on her “Mine” Derek's eyes went impossibly wide and his eyebrows shot up so fast that Stiles would swear they left his head for a minute “Yeah, he’s, er, mine, we are, you know, doing  _ it _ and stuff” He shrugged again, she looked between them and rubbed a hand across Derek’s chest, he rounded his shoulders and pressed his chest in to get away from the touch. 

“Give me your hand merDerek” Stiles said firmly, unsure what the hell was going on still, Derek held out his hand, Stiles laced their fingers together, he hadn't realised how nice Stiles’ hands were before, they were softer than he thought they would be “See?” He held their hands up to show the siren, then placed his other hand over Derek's heart and pressed, repeating the same movement on himself. She didn't move for what felt like hours but in reality it was probably only a few seconds then pulled her hand back from Stiles’ arm. She gently pressed her hand against Derek's heart and almost shyly she then pressed her hand onto Stiles’ heart. Stiles smiled “Yeah, you got it” He was still holding Derek’s hand when she threw her head back and let out an ear piercing scream that could wake the dead.

“Holy shit!” She hung her head and sobbed, “Hey” Stiles gently placed a hand on her shoulder, she flinched but didn't hiss so he took that as a win. She brushed a clawed hand through Derek’s hair, gently stroking his cheek, he just remained very still like he thought she somehow wouldn't notice him if he didn’t move. Then opening her hand flat she pushed it against his heart and looked at Stiles, her inky black eyes looking softer and deeper somehow, and pressed her hand against her heart “Yeah, I know you do” Stiles said quietly.

“Stiles, what's going on?” Derek's eyebrows pinched together and he looked adorably confused. 

“Shhh merDerek, I got this” He held his hand out flat, never taking his eyes from the siren “You’re lonely huh?” She looked at Stiles hand and traced a finger over his palm, he smiled, she tried to mimic it, it was terrifying, like the way a shark smiles, all sharp teeth and darkness. “We need to get Derek back to land” Stiles made a wavy movement with his hands and then used his fingers to mimic walking “He’s got work to do, writing a book” He pretended to write on his hand with the other one “All about me” Stiles pointed to himself and smirked. 

Peter let out an audible huff and pinched the bridge of his nose “Stiles” he began, exasperated “We really need to go now, can we wrap this up” He made a circling movement in the air with his finger.

“MerDerek, is Stiles’, yeah?” He linked his fingers with Derek’s again and brushed the skin on the back of his hand with his thumb because  _ why not?  _ “MerDerek, release your legs dude, we’re getting out of here”

Derek gingerly leant forward and using his claws he ripped at the reeds up to half way up his thigh. She watched sadly but didn't make a move to stop him. Derek shook his legs out a bit and rolled his ankles trying to get the feeling back in them. She cupped Derek's face and put her nose against his, making a whining noise.

“Sorry?” Derek whispered apologetically “Apparently I belong to Stiles?” He gave Stiles the side eye who just grinned at him, pulling on his hand he made Derek stand up next to him, she looked up at them from under her dark lashes, Stiles noticed she seemed to be crying.

“Ohh” He squatted down and wiped a tear from her cheek “You wanna go home huh? Wanna find your own merDerek? We can help you, if you’ll let us?” She blinked up at him with owlish eyes before pulling away and moving to sit by Derek's legs, she began to rub the inside of his thigh just above the knee and placed her head against it. “Ok!” Stiles clapped his hands together “This could work” He motioned for Peter to stand up “She’s going wherever merDerek’s going, which by the way, nice skirt dude” He winked and nodded his head towards Derek’s reed skirt that resembled a long hula skirt with a gap in the front, Derek groaned “And he’s coming with me, his beau, so let’s go, let’s take her home”

“I’m confused,” Derek said flinching as her hand went a little higher.

Stiles rolled his head “God! Keep up dude, she’s lonely and looking for a mate, she chose you, but if you already had a mate she wouldn't be able to keep you so I pretended to be your mate” He shrugged “Simple. So for now, you and I are mates, got it?”

Derek nodded but it was Peter that spoke “Can we please get back to land now?” The siren jerked her head round Derek’s leg and hissed at Peter, Stiles immediately copied her, the Hale men both raised their eyebrows.

“What?” He said, looking between them “She did it first” his tone petulant as he pointed towards the siren “Come on Spangle, you’re coming with us” She looked up at Stiles, then at Derek.

Getting back out of the cave was not as difficult as Stiles thought it was going to be, the siren followed wherever Derek went, Derek followed Peter and Stiles followed the siren. None of them spoke, they were all too tired, Peter was particularly grumpy, but that probably had more to do with being knocked out than being tired.

Their heads bobbed up above the water line, including the siren, she was much more striking in the light, her skin was like porcelain, absolutely flawless and stark contrast against her inky eyes which seemed more of a midnight blue than black when the light shone on them. She blinked a little, finding the sunlight too bright.

It was Peter who walked out of the water first, greeted by both Laura and Cora. Derek, Stiles and the siren were still in the water with only their heads showing. 

“Ok, how are we going to do this?” Derek looked at Stiles and back at the shore, he chewed his lip.

“Parrish?” He shouted, Jordan turned to look at him “Get the cruiser as close to here as you can”

“10-4” He shouted running off towards the car park, driving in the preserve sounds like fun, not. Not to mention it's illegal, but, then again needs must I guess.

“We’re taking her to Grandma's B&B” Stiles said “You’re travelling with her in the back of my cruiser, she will go wherever you go, we gotta be fast, I’m not sure how long she can be out of the water for”

“You want me to travel in what? What Stiles? Are you mental? We need to put her back!” Derek spat, earning a whine from the siren and another tender nose to nose touch.

“Don't upset her merDerek, I’m serious, we are putting her back in the ocean where she belongs. Wait here till I say so then carry her out, ok?”

“Stiles-”

“Don’t argue, just do it” Stiles turned towards her “Hey, Spangle” She looked at him and did her terrifying smile again, which he was  _ not scared of thank you very much  _ “merDerek” He placed his hand on Derek's heart and  _ damn his chest is firm  _ “Belongs to Stiles” He pressed his hand to his own heart

He walked out of the water and pushed his hands through his hair, he was immediately assaulted by Jackson who pulled him into a bone crushing hug “The fuck Stillinski?” He then punched him in the arm,  _ fucking wolves _ .

“Worried about me Jax?” Stiles grinned “And why are you standing here in nothing but your boxers?”

“He was about to come and rescue you” Laura said walking over to them “Is Der ok?”

Stiles looked over at the 2 figures bobbing up and down in the water, “Yeah, he’s ok. Jackson, phone Erica and tell her to get a bath of cold water ready, oh and dump some salt in it, 1 cup of salt to 1 gallon of water, we’ll be there in 10 minutes” Jackson did as he was told for once, Erica had hundreds of questions but he just shouted at them to get the bath ready and then hung up.

Stiles was shivering as he told them the plan, no-one said anything initially, but then they all spoke at the same time, Jackson putting his trousers back on, Cora clinging onto Peter and Laura rubbing Stiles’ arm in a feeble attempt to warm him up and look at the injury he sustained earlier. It was only Parrish returning that interrupted the mayhem.

“Jackson, can you take the girls and Peter, get me a change of clothes, something for merDerek to wear and one of my t-shirts for the siren please? Then meet us at the B&B”

“Not your slave Stillinski” He said while simultaneously squeezing Stiles’ shoulder and turning to face the group “Little Hale, Laura, Peter, you’re with me” He snapped his fingers “C’mon”

“How far is the cruiser?” Stiles asked Parrish

“5 minute walk, closest I could get cos of the trees, sorry”

“You did good Parrish” Stiles smiled, turning to face the water, he whistled through his teeth and shouted “Ok merDerek, let’s go” He waved an arm at him. Derek rose from the water like a fucking sea god carrying the siren who was holding on round his neck looking panicked, his reed skirt flowed behind him making him look even more majestic, Stiles was losing too much blood to the south of his body and had never wanted a camera more in his life, this epic moment should be captured. Parrish stood with his mouth agape. It was only after Derek reached them that Stiles remembered Parrish had his phone and he could have taken that damn picture after all.  _ Stupid merDerek and his stupid sexy body. _

“Parrish this is Spangle, Spangle this is Parrish” They both stared at each other wide eyed until she buried her face in Derek’s neck and whined, he grimaced and looked at Stiles “So, come on then, let’s get going” Stiles waved them in the direction of the cruiser.

All three men were on high alert as they travelled through the forest, luckily this was Hale land and very few people would try to trespass so they had little chance of them being busted by someone.

“So she’s a mermaid? Merperson, then?” Jordan spluttered, still staring at her.

“Yeah” Stiles was swinging his arms looking like he didn't have a care in the world.

“And she speaks English?” He raised his eyebrows.

“No” Laughing, he continued, “She finds my voice comforting, and merDereks body apparently” He turned to wink at Derek who just growled a little and blushed awkwardly.

They managed to bundle her into the car after a lot of hissing and scratching, luckily both werewolves and hellhounds heal quickly, Stiles made sure to stay back, less likely to have another hole in his arm that way. Derek was in the back of the cruiser with his back against the door, one leg stretched out on the seat and one bent with his foot on the floor. The siren sat in his lap, arms tight around his neck and making bubbling noises and grinding her teeth. Parrish drove as Stiles filled him in on what happened. Derek traced his fingers down the siren's arms and whispered to her quietly, she seemed to find comfort in that. Stiles found it very distracting, merDerek was definitely going to be making an appearance in many of his fantasies.

All was going well until someone honked their horn, she suddenly reared up and screeched, Jordan almost crashed the car but managed to pull it back at the last minute, silently thankful for the grate between the front seats and the rear seats. Her tail started to flap and Stiles shouted “Careful Derek” grabbing the grate he smooshed his face against it and said “She's got razor sharp spiky fins at the end of her tail, careful, watch out!” Derek tried hard to hold her still while her tail was flailing and he was trying very hard not to get his leg amputated by the damn thing.

“Got that Stiles, thanks!” He spat through gritted teeth, eyes flashing blue.

“Do the nose thing, the nose thing” Stiles was tapping his nose furiously, Derek looked at him incredulously but gently turned her face to his, she was still screaming and her breath stank of fish, he swallowed down the fear of getting his face chewed off and gently tapped her nose with his, hand on one side of her face, the other round her waist.

She began to slow down, the noise stopped completely as she grabbed Derek’s face and touched his nose with hers again, eyes fluttered closed, she made the bubbling whine she had made earlier to him, it was soft and almost loving. 

“MerDerek?” Stiles whispered as Parrish pulled into the carpark “You ok?”

Derek’s voice was nothing but a soft whisper as he replied “She smells like fish and arousal”

Both Stiles and Parrish began to laugh as quietly as they could. Stiles suddenly felt conscious that he was soaking wet and still in his board shorts as he exited the car, but then he remembered Derek was wearing a skirt and smirked. He opened Derek’s door while Jordan asked Erica to open the door to the room she had filled the bath in. Her eyes were the only thing that gave away her surprise as she folded her arms across her chest and said “A mermaid Stiles? Really?” She rolled her eyes as if she deals with them on a regular basis. Derek carried her into the bathroom and laid her gently in the bath.

She gasped very quietly and closed her eyes, laying her head back, her blonde hair splaying out and making her look like a sunflower. She grasped Derek’s hand as she lowered her head underwater, making sure he didn't disappear while she was resting.

“She’s beautiful” Erica whispered, leaning into Boyd who just raised an eyebrow.

“She’s not, she’s fucking terrifying” Stiles giggled “Massive teeth and a razor sharp tail, not my cup of tea really, can’t say the same for merDerek though” They all chuckled as Derek scowled in his direction, still sat on the floor next to the bath with his hand being gripped by a cold wet fish woman.

Jackson soon barged his way into the room and boomed “Fuck me! What have you done Stillinski?” Staring at the siren, arms folded across his chest. She lurched up from the water, hair stuck to her head making her look bald, mouth open and hissing wildly “Shit” Jackson’s eyes grew wide as he grabbed Stiles’ arm making him step back a bit.

“Relax Jackson, she likes me” He grinned “Shhh Spangle, that’s just Jackson, he’s kind of an asshole” Jackson shoved him “But he’s still my best friend”

“Spangle?” It was Laura’s turn to speak “Her name’s Spangle?”

“Stiles named her, obviously” Peter added

“Excuse you! Rude! I did not name her, it's the name she chose from the list of possible names I gave her. She likes it”

Derek noticed that when Stiles spoke she hummed a little, it made him give a soft smile, he liked it when Stiles spoke too. She reached over the side of the bath to Derek’s other wrist where a bracelet that looked like it was made of hair and lake plants all neatly woven together was tied on and brushed it with her fingers. She then repeated the gesture on her own wrist made of dark hair and lake plants, which, now he thought about it, was probably Derek’s hair. She stared intensely into his eyes, Derek could feel the affection and loneliness coming off of her. 

“Oh my God Derek” Stiles crowed “Are you fish married to her? Is that what the bracelets with locks of each other's hair means?” His eyes danced with amusement

What?” Derek looked between Stiles and the siren in alarm “No! What?”

“You are! You’re totally fish married! Derek’s got a fish wife!” He couldn't hold back the laughter, he bent over clutching his stomach, until something wet hit him in the chest and sent him flying across the very small bathroom and into the sink. Derek’s head shot towards her, eyes wide, she smiled shyly and stroked his cheek.

“Fuck” He said under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose “I’m fucking fish married”

Stiles made everyone leave the room apart from him and Derek, they were going to have to put a tshirt on her, she couldn't stay topless like that while they had her stuck in the bath. Jackson had grabbed Stiles’ blue Beatles t-shirt for her to wear. Derek and the siren watched Stiles dry off and get dressed, he kept a towel around his waist to keep his dignity while he put his boxers on, he made a big deal out of putting on his black t-shirt, fitted t-shirt, not that Derek was looking closely or anything, to show the siren it was easy. 

He handed the Beatles T-shirt to Derek, who pushed it back towards him shaking his head.

“Nuh-uh merDerek, she’s your wife, you can dress her” Derek's eyes flashed blue “Doesn’t work on humans dude”

It was a struggle, she’s stronger than she looks, but eventually they got the t-shirt on her, Derek had ended up on top of her in the stupidly small bath which she was delighted about and kept licking his chest. Stiles was jealous, he wanted to lick Derek’s chest too. Ugh.

When Derek was dressed he pressed his nose against her nose and then sat back against the opposite wall next to stiles. They both hand their knees bent and their arms resting on them. Stiles turned to face Derek.

“Deaton thinks her venom makes people easy to manipulate if given in the right doses” He leaned his head back.

“I know” Derek looked down “It contains a neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin, like a blue ringed octopus, or a pufferfish” Stiles' mouth was agape as Derek continued “A little bit goes a long way, it’s probably what killed those other men”

“How do you know this?”

“I er, I worked it out that night in the bar” His cheeks flushed a little “I went to the library and then thought I could go and see her on my own, see if my theory was right, about her being a siren”

“At least I know why you shouted octopus in my face and then left” Stiles snorted nudging him “But that was stupid dude, werewolf or not you put yourself in immense danger, I was, you know, worried”

Derek lifted his head to look directly at Stiles “You were worried?” His voice was quiet and almost hesitant.

“Sure I was” Stiles replied, giving him a shy smile. The air suddenly felt heavy in the room, both men leaned towards each other, they were inches apart, could feel each other’s breath. The door burst open, the siren hissed loudly and both men jumped apart “Stiles we need a plan” Erica demanded, one perfectly manicured hand on her hip, “These guys are idiots, come and sort it out” She motioned with her other arm for him to follow. They did at least leave the door open so Derek could have an input, not that he spoke much, too busy making sure the siren didn't freak out.

It was well into the night before a plan had even been half formed, most of the team were nervous but Stiles was buzzing with excitement. Boyd had left to pick up some raw fish from the supermarket, Derek was sitting next to the bath again while the siren ran her hands through his hair, his eyes were closed, he seemed to be enjoying the touch.  _ Derek likes to be petted, Stiles would remember that. _

After Derek had given her the raw fish and she seemed content again they began the first stage of their plan, securing a tipper truck. Stiles knew there was one on the local building site, he had seen it on his way to work that morning, or was it yesterday? He had lost track, anyway he knew it was there, and they were only going to ‘borrow’ it, they would return it for sure. Peter had other ideas, apparently the Hales were friends with a farming family that he was sure would want to help, no questions asked.

Everyone apart from Derek and Stiles went home, they had their own jobs to do for ‘Operation High Tide’ as Stiles named it because it apparently it  _ needed a cool name _ . He brought a pillow into the bathroom for Derek and a blanket for him to lay on as whenever he was out of sight she began to moan and get distressed. Erica had very kindly given Stiles an adjoining room but the only thing they used that for was the bathroom. Derek had made his bed up next to the bath and laid down looking up at the siren who had leant over the side of the bath to look at him, dripping water on his face, she hummed gently. Stiles felt a little like he was intruding on something intimate.

“What?” Derek asked, not looking away from her, Stiles shoved his hands in his pockets.

“You’re really good with her, at this” He gestured around “In general, you're really good”

“I have sisters,” Derek shrugged. “I can smell her fear and loneliness and feel her need to be close to someone, to love someone and to be loved. It’s a basic need for all animals, I’m not going to deny her comfort, even if she did kill those other men. She didn't mean to Stiles, she’s not a bad person, merperson, she’s just lonely”

“Yeah dude, I know” He sat on the floor cross legged next to Derek, leaning over him he pressed his nose to hers. She immediately placed a hand on his cheek and closed her eyes, she leant out of the bath a little more and put her hand on Derek's abdomen to steady herself, he let out an ‘ooof’ noise as she put more of her weight onto him to get closer to Stiles. When she pulled back Stiles smiled, she returned the gesture, it was all teeth and far too wide, it was fucking terrifying and Stiles wished he hadn’t taught her that. She pressed her hand to Derek's chest and then to Stiles, he nodded.

She seemed to be studying them closely before making a shrieking noise and pushing Stiles down so his face was almost on Derek’s, he threw a hand out next to Derek’s head to steady himself. Derek didn't move, he just watched as she gently pushed further until their noses touched. Stiles’ breath hitched and he really,  _ really _ hoped Derek thought that was due to the angle, not the fact that he wanted to stick his tongue in his mouth. She took her hand away and slunk back into the bath, neither men moved for a few seconds, each breathing the other one in, Derek lifted his hand to Stiles cheek and gently cupped his jaw, but Stiles’ phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

“I should er, should get that” He leaned back, clearing his throat and used his hand to rub the back of his neck to hide the flush he knew was creeping up. Derek stared up at him, he was fucking beautiful, those honey brown eyes, pale skin currently with a dusky pink glow, those soft looking lips that Derek wanted to taste. He swallowed thickly as he listened to Stiles take his call, scrubbing a hand over his face he wished for morning to come, he needed to not be so close to Stiles, it’s not fair on Kira.


	3. Spangle Definitely Ships Them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the penultimate chapter. I hope your week is going well so far and that you are enjoying my little story? Come and find me on Tumblr (Littleleaf25) if you want to chat :)

The siren was lying quietly in the bath, she occasionally peered over the side to look at Derek, making sure he was still in view. He was slightly startled when she reached a cold wet hand down to him, he had been concentrating on Stiles’ conversation, he knew he shouldn't but he couldn't help himself sometimes. It wasn’t even what Stiles was saying, it was the sound of his voice, he could listen to him talk for hours. She grabbed his wrist and pulled it up towards her mouth, Derek immediately sat up, pulling his arm away, “No! No, no, no, no” She just gripped him tighter, opening her mouth she edged closer, Derek was about to push her face away when he noticed her tears. She clamped down on the bracelet he wore and bit it in half, it fell onto his lap, he could feel the water soaking into his jeans. She let go of his arm and repeated the action with her own bracelet, letting it fall next to his “Hey” He said softly, but she turned towards the wall and hummed quietly, it was haunting, he could feel it deep in his chest, it was almost painful.

Stiles came back in and shook his phone “That was Kira” He looked between Derek and the siren “Everything ok?”

“Yeah” Derek ran a hand through his hair then held up the broken bracelets “I think we’re divorced now”

Stiles snorted a laugh at Derek’s choice of words but his gaze drifted to the siren, she looked so vulnerable, she’d scrunched herself up as small as she could and appeared to be hugging her tail, after taking a second to wonder if she cuts herself on her tail when she does things like that, Stiles focused again and furrowed his brow “She ok?” He asked Derek who just shrugged and laid back down, he felt bad enough as it was, he really didn’t want to face her at the moment.

“Get some sleep Stiles”

“Yeah just a sec” He crawled over to the bath, leaning over Derek he placed a hand on the sirens shoulder “Spangle?” She growled a little making him smile, she sounded like an angry rodent “Spangle?” She turned her head to face him, tears filling her inky midnight eyes making them look as if waves moved within them “It’s ok” He whispered softly and leant over to gently kiss the top of her head. She stared at him eyes wide, he felt like he was on a roller coaster, his stomach dipped and he had a feeling he was going to regret doing that. She pushed her head into his mouth again, making him squeak a little as she trapped his already sore bottom lip with the action. She did this a few times before Stiles pushed her back “Hey, Spangle, that’s not, that’s a bit aggressive, come here” He took her hand and gently kissed the back of it. She motioned for him to do it again, staring at the way his eyes closed when he pushed his soft lips to her hand. He huffed a laugh and heard Derek groan a little.

“Stiles” He said, as if he was basically just exhausted with his antics right now “What did you do?” He didn’t have to look at Derek to know he had an eyebrow raised.

“She” He said kissing her hand between each word “Likes. Kissing.” The siren took hold of Stiles hand and placed her mouth on it “Yeah, you got it, it's called kissing, good huh?” She didn't actually move her lips or pucker them at all, it was just a case of placing her mouth to his hand, it felt a bit like a fish was kissing him, but then again he supposed it was.

He was lost in his own thoughts until she suddenly reached down and grabbed Derek’s hand, she kissed the back of it a few times, Derek had sat up by this point, Stiles was still leaning over his legs. She shoved her hand to his mouth, basically punching him in the face, but then they had just got divorced so he should expect some sort of repercussions and if her getting a little excited and punching him in the mouth was it then so be it. He kissed her hand, he’d take it, could have been much worse.

She gave a terrifying grin, _ thanks for teaching her that Stiles _ , and pushed Derek’s hand to Stiles’ mouth, without hesitation he kissed it, Derek swallowed thickly as he did it again, his eyes fluttered shut making his long lashes sweep his cheek. In a tangle of arms she grabbed Stiles’ hand and pressed it to Derek’s face, eyes wide he kissed it “Pffiles” He said against his hand “pfhe pfmells ike arousfall”

Stiles barked out a laugh and waggled his eyebrows “Mermaid threesome’s a bit too kinky for me dude, but hey, no judgement” He held his hands up in a placating manor. Derek grumbled a low noise which just made Stiles giggle even more “And on that note” He pulled his hands away “I’m gonna get some shut eye, busy day tomorrow” He winked at the siren, standing up he suddenly felt a little self-conscious, the gaze Derek had fixed him with was not at all what he was expecting, it was soft, from kissing the siren he imagined, unwilling to hope it was because  _ he _ kissed his hand.

Derek raised a hand to say bye but as Stiles reached the door Spangle began to scream, she reached her arms out for Stiles and made a grabbing motion with her hands, he paused and looked between her and Derek, who just shrugged,  _ helpful dude, thanks _ . Stiles flopped his head down and let out a harsh breath, he had to at least make it look like he wanted to leave right?

“Dude?” He asked Derek, who shrugged “Fine, I’ll stay, but you gotta sleep Spangle” He pointed his finger at her, she tilted her head to the side and gave him a feral grin. Derek handed him one of his pillows as he laid next to him “Thanks” He was far enough apart from Derek that he wouldn’t make him uncomfortable, but close enough to enjoy his body heat.  _ Werewolves were hot man _ .

They remained in silence for a few minutes before the siren started to whine again, Stiles put his arm over his eyes “Ugh, it’s like having a baby to look after, it’s your turn Derek, I did the last one” he said grinning. 

He heard Derek shift a little and whisper quietly “Shhh, lay down” He gently pushed her back into the salty water and kissed her hand “dulcia somnia” Then laid back down as if he didn’t just do the  _ sweetest fucking thing in the whole world _ and make Stiles want to have his babies immediately!

“Sweet dreams? You know Latin?” He tried to keep his tone neutral and not let on just how much that turned him on. He really hoped Derek wouldn't notice, besides he could always claim it was the siren that smelt like that, not him.

“Not really, my Mom used to say that to us before she kissed us goodnight, I guess it kinda stuck” He shrugged and gave a lopsided grin.

That it, Stiles was gonna jump on him right now, how can someone so grumpy be so adorable?  _ Stupid Derek. _

“Have you noticed the way she looks at you? Like you’re her whole world, imagine feeling like that about someone and not being able to tell them” Derek turned to face him, Stiles removed his arm from his eyes and rolled to the side “It’s like you’re her prince Eric, oh my god” Stiles grinned, wide eyed at the realisation.

“Don’t say it Stiles” He scrunched his face up and it was  _ fucking adorable _ .

“Prince Derek” Stiles cackled so loudly Derek was sure they would receive complaints in the morning, it was 2 am for Christ sake.

“Stiles, you don’t have to-“ A cold wet hand cut him off mid-sentence by grabbing his hand. The siren lent so far out of the bath that for a second Derek was stunned by the muscle control in her tail. She placed Derek’s hand on Stiles’ chest and put Stiles’ hand on Derek’s chest. Neither man moved, not really knowing what to do, it was Stiles who spoke first, her soft eyes tilting her head to the side as if listening to him.

“Well she clearly ships us” He announced awkwardly, Derek’s mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish but he couldn’t think of what to say,  _ ‘yeah I ship us too but you’ve got a girlfriend? _ ’ No, he wasn’t that stupid.

It took about 10 minutes to finally get her to settle and another 5 to find a position that wasn’t too close but also not too far away from each other. Derek could hear the grin in Stiles voice as she whispered “Night Prince Derek”.

\-------------

“Did you even ask him?” Derek scowled at Cora

“Yes”

“Cora?”

She crossed her arms and scowled “Yes, he said he didn't have one available at this exact moment”

Derek ran a hand through his hair “We can't execute the plan without the water pump, we need to get one right now. Where’s Stiles?” He looked around.

“Gone to see Kira” Cora had gone from slightly grumpy to pissed off, it wasn't her fault the local plumber was using his water pump, it wasn't like she didn't try.

The room was full of hustle and bustle, everyone trying to complete the tasks they were given the night before. The siren still hissed every time Jackson or Peter got near her but she had warmed up to Parrish. She was settled as long as she could still see Derek or Stiles, no one else was able to comfort her in the same way, much like a child she picked up on the tension inside the room. 

There was a knock at the door, everyone tensed immediately, Erica closed the bathroom door leaving Parrish and Laura with the siren, she then opened the door and cocked an eyebrow. The delivery man pulled a pencil from behind his ear and tapped his clipboard “Gas bottle for Prince Derek?” He smirked.

Derek rolled his eyes and whispered “For fuck sake Stiles” Under his breath, stepping forward he snatched the clipboard and signed his name, it was at that moment the siren decided to start singing, it was a sad melody, she sounded distressed. The delivery man narrowed his eyes at the group in front of him “The radio” Derek growled, he passed the guy a few bucks for a tip and stared at him until he left.

Boyd was the one to bring the gas bottle in while Derek went to see if he could stop the mournful song. When he opened the door she saw him and stopped singing, a grin forming on her face, she made grabby hands at him until he stepped within reach, kneeling down beside the bath. She pulled his hand towards her mouth and pressed her face to it, he mimicked the movement with her hand.

“Der?” Laura said softly, tears still rolling down her cheeks “Der, she was, that was like”

Jordan finished her sentence, on the verge of tears himself “like her heart broke in front of us”

Derek nodded, he knew exactly what they meant, she may not be able to speak but she has her songs and they tell a story. Each one meaning something different, she hums different melodies depending on who she’s interacting with, Derek’s one is slow and soft whereas Stiles’ tune is a little faster and higher pitched.

Derek pressed his nose against her’s while she hummed her ‘Derek’ tune “Not long now and you’ll be back where you belong”

There were sudden movements and voices from within the main room, Kira appeared at the door with Stiles.

“Gas bottles here then?” He grinned at Derek who pointedly ignored him in favour of bumping noses with the siren.

“She hasn't done _ the song _ yet then? You know, the one to hypnotise men?” Kira asked, Stiles shook his head “Have you seen her venom glands yet?” She bounced slightly on the balls of her feet, “I read last night that if-”

Derek pulled back and growled “She’s not a science project” interrupting Kira mid-sentence, Stiles put his hand up

“Woah dude, don't speak to Kira like that”

“Then tell her to show some respect” Derek stood up, his cheeks flushed a little and his fists clenched.

“She’s trying to help” Stiles raised his voice.

“With what? What exactly does she have to offer Stiles? Hmm?” Derek’s voice took on a slightly dangerous edge, he could feel his gums tingling with the need to drop his fangs.

“What the fuck Derek!” Stiles shouted. The siren lurched forward sending salt water crashing over the edge of the bath and straight on to Parrish and Laura’s laps, both jumped at the temperature of the water soaking through their trousers. She screamed, loud enough for everyone to slam their hands over their ears, the windows shook and Derek stormed out. A few seconds later the Camaro could be heard screeching out of the car park.

Stiles moved forward and tried to put his face next to hers but the sound was so deafening he was almost thrown back from the sheer force of it, the wolves all slowly left one by one, leaving only Stiles, Kira and Parrish in the bathroom with the screaming siren. It wasn't long before Parrish left, taking Kira with him, unable to stand the noise any more. They congregated in the reception area. Erica was furious “Someone needs to shut her up, if my business suffers because of this I’m going after Stillinski” She spat.

“It’s my fault” Cora said quietly, everyone turned towards the youngest person in the room “Derek asked me to get the water pump from Serge, the plumber guy who’s worked on Hale House before, but he wouldn't let me borrow it, he was using it today and so Derek was pissed and he, he just-”

“He just what little Hale?” Jackson sauntered into the room with Peter following closely behind, and let's face it, that could never be a good thing. He squeezed her shoulder “He what Cora?” He asked gently and very un-Jackson like, it made Laura scowl at him untrustingly.

“He left and the siren began to scream” She chewed her lip a little and Jackson winked at her.

“Oh come on” Peter crossed his arms “We’ve all heard Lydia scream, how is this any different?”

“Don't you feel it?” Laura cocked her head to the side “Don't you feel your heart breaking, like your whole body is about to crumble and you're missing part of yourself?”

Peter shrugged “A little. I would like someone to go and stop it, where’s my nephew?”

“Left” Jordan took a step forward and bumped Laura’s shoulder by accident, he smiled apologetically and Peter rolled his eyes dramatically.

“Well shouldn't someone go and get him?”

“We don't know where he is. He had a fight with Stiles and left and then this happened” She gestured in the direction of the noise.

Almost as Laura pointed in the direction of the room housing the siren, it stopped. The wolves could hear a quieter hum but doubted any humans would be able to hear if from this far away.

“Where’s Stillinski?” Jackson queried

“With the siren” Cora answered. He took a moment to look at Cora, making sure she was ok “Not your fault little Hale, if Derek wanted a water pump he should have got it himself. And yes I got your text and yes, the pump is in the back of the car”

Cora’s eyes widened and she began to smile a little “Where’d you get it?”

“That would be telling” Peter answered ominously. No-one asked any more questions, probably decided it was best they didn't know.

\----------

“Shhhhh” Stiles cooed to the siren who was still wailing at full volume “He’ll come back” He stroked her hair while she gripped his wrists, she stared into his eyes but he felt like she was looking not  _ at _ him but  _ into _ him “That’s a bit creepy” He smiled “Look, people fight ok? Derek’ll be back soon, he’s just gotta cool off. People can be jerks” He huffed and rubbed a hand down his face, he pressed a hand to his heart and then to hers. Slowly her screaming turned to sobs which turned to humming. He bumped his nose against hers and smiled “I wish you could understand me” He whispered.

“Then she’d know you’re a dumbass! A least we could just tell her to shut the fuck up cos we’re trying to help” Jackson leant against the door jamb looking incredibly bored by the whole thing.

“Really Jax? Can't you see I’m having a moment?” He teased

“Keep it in your pants Stillinski, that's a goddamn fish!” He made a disgusted noise and left, popping his head back round a second later and whispering “You ok?” Stiles nodded “Yeah well” His voice at normal level “We got the pump, seems Peter and I are the only ones capable of getting shit done around here”

“You and Peter?” He threw his head back dramatically “Oh God, this is going to be a disaster”. Jackson merely snorted and left.

Laura and Parrish came and sat by the siren again, they sat a little closer to each other than was strictly necessary. Stiles went to stand in the doorway so she could still see him but he could also direct the others on what needed to be done.

“Imagine how scared she must be?” Laura looked at Jordan, kneeling next to her, both of them still wearing wet trousers, he nodded in reply “I wonder how old she is? Like, how long do they live for? Kira said earlier that they need a mate to survive, they physically need someone to love or they die of a broken heart. What if we break her Jordan? What if that song is her way of telling us she’s dying?” Tears stung Laura's eyes, threatening to roll down her cheeks. Parrish didn't get the chance to argue before the siren grabbed his hand and pushed it to Laura’s chest, he went a deep shade of pink and Laura just let her mouth hang open unattractively. Taking Laura’s hand she placed it to Jordan’s chest, he looked between her and Laura trying to decide the best course of action here, he knew what it meant but he also knew Laura didn't.

They heard soft laughter coming from the door. “Nice Parrish” Stiles teased, “She thinks you and Laura are mates” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. The siren looked incredibly pleased with herself, she splashed the water gently and wiggled her tail fins from side to side “Good work Spangle” He gave her 2 thumbs up. Laura and Jordan just stared at each other with their hands still in place “Sounds like Derek’s back, you might wanna remove your hand from his sisters boob” Parrish snatched his hand back and Laura let hers drop to her lap. Neither of them knew what to say, so they just watched the siren splash happily in the bath.

Derek stalked into the room and pushed past Stiles, the siren began to make yipping noises and sang her ‘Derek’ tune, she made grabby hands the moment she saw him. He motioned for Laura and Jordan to move and knelt down on the floor by the bath, she grabbed his face with both hands and pressed her nose to his. He closed his eyes, needing to feel the closeness for a minute, letting it soothe his soul. Letting go she made grabby hands for Stiles who shook his head, she growled a little making him laugh, he did kneel down next to Derek though, both pointedly ignoring each other, until she smooshed their faces together and made clicking noises with her tongue. Neither man resisted her, knowing that if they struggled she would inevitably push harder and they didn't really want their faces to be pressed together any more than they already were. She seemed satisfied after making them kiss each other’s hands much to their annoyance. Couldn’t she see they were trying to argue? Having the other man that close was doing things to both of them, things they didn’t want to think about right now.

“So we’re ignoring the fact that she’s a killer then?” Peter asked loudly from the bedroom.

“About as much as we are ignoring the fact that she’s not the only one in the room, blue eyes” Stiles called back.

“As you wish deputy” He could hear the smirk in Peter’s voice, and Jacksons snort.

“Where did you go?” He asked Derek as they once again sat on the floor of the bathroom together “When you stormed out, where did you go?”

“I did not storm out” Derek said indignantly, Stiles just raised an eyebrow “To get my notebook from Deaton”

“How did he get it? It was locked up in evidence?”

“Your Dad. He asked your Dad for it to help with the case”

“Makes sense” Stiles turned the corners of his mouth down and raised both eyebrows, nodding in agreement.

“Deaton said the travelling sales guy was using her venom to control clients into making large orders of a drug that was borderline harmful according to the ADA”

“Shit” Stiles ran a hand through his hair “No-wonder the guy wanted to keep it locked up in a safe. So, when Spangle took those dude’s do you think she knew they would die?”

Derek paused for a second “Knowing her as we do now I would speculate that she killed the travelling sales guy and was just lonely enough to want Earl, the other guy and me. Why else would she take someone like me? I was there to fill a gap and my healing abilities are what kept me alive, it was biology not a choice”

Stiles scoffed “Fuck off!” Derek turned a sharp look at him “She’s head over heels for you dude, I reckon if you want to you could go and live your best merman life with her. But, you gotta come back and visit, I wanna see those little merbabies you’re gonna have. Oh god imagine how cute little merwolf babies would be, with their little fluffy faces and shiny tails” He put a hand over his mouth and widened his eyes.

“Stiles” He knew that tone by now, Derek was not impressed “Don’t be stupid, I’m not a merman or a merwolf or any other kind of merbeing, I’m just a boring wannabe writer”

“You are so much more dude” Stiles nudged him with his shoulder “Besides you won't be a wannabe for long, as soon as you get that book written about me you’ll have a best seller, how can you not? Look at your subject” He laughed.

“Did you, did you look inside my notebook?” Derek chewed on his lip a little, Stiles shook his head “Thanks” He let out a long sigh “Sorry, you know, about before”

“You need to apologise to Kira dude, not me. You were out of order”

He nodded “I know. I’ll go and see her later”

“We have to wait until it’s dark anyway before we can move her, so you could do it this afternoon?” He motioned towards the siren who was happily splashing around in the water like a child at bath time “Problem is, you and I need to go and get the truck and she freaks out if at least one of us isn’t in her sight at all times”

“Peter could do it? As long as one Hale is there it shouldn’t be a problem”

Stiles made a noncommittal grunt “Jackson’s pretty good at procuring things, then finding loopholes to get himself out of it. Lawyer” He shrugged.

“Are you suggesting Peter and Jackson go? Together?” His judgy eyebrows shot upwards almost comically

“It wouldn't be my first choice but they did manage to get a water pump”

“Yeah and they told us not to ask questions about where they got it from! There is no way they should be allowed to form any kind of alliance, like ever” He huffed “Are you ok here if I go and apologise to Kira” He shifted a little and Stiles just nodded.

\----------

The apology went about as well as can be expected for someone who doesn't know how to apologise and doesn't want to do it either because he’s not Kira’s biggest fan at the moment anyway. She did, at least, take it like a lady.

“I just don't know what I’ve done to offend you Derek?” She gave him sad eyes, “I’m not a bad person”

“Yeah” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at her, not to intimidate her but because she was quite a bit smaller than him “I don’t think you’re a bad person, it's just complicated. Stiles is, he’s-”

Kira’s phone rang, she held up a finger to him while she answered it. He could hear quite clearly on the other end Scott freaking out. It seems he was trying to get hold of Stiles, figures that he’d try his girlfriend, makes perfect sense. She hung up and grabbed her keys from next to her computer.

“I gotta get Stiles”

“Calm down” He held his hands up “You can't drive like that, you’ll have an accident. I’ll go and tell Stiles, you stay here”

“His phone batteries dead” She dropped her keys back on the table and ran a hand through her hair “Give me your number so I can contact you if I need him” She handed him a piece of paper and he couldn't help the smirk tugging at his lips.

“Send me memes and I block you, understand?”

She gave him a ‘Really Derek?’ look and he left. It was only a couple of minutes’ drive back to the B&B. Boyd and Erica were checking people in and out, trying to explain why the building smelt like fish and not say ‘because we've got a giant siren in the bathtub of 3B’.

Derek wandered into the room and made a beeline for Stiles.

“Phone Scott” He handed him his phone “Alison’s in labour and he’s trying to get hold of you”

“Shit” Stiles jumped up, startling the siren who hissed at him “Sorry, sorry” He said to her, snatching Derek’s phone. Scott answered on the second ring. Everyone could hear Alison screaming in the background, they established that Scott had driven her to the hospital when her waters broke at work. Sheriff Stillinski tried to insist that she go on maternity leave at least a month ago but once Alison Argent, soon to be McCall, gets a bee in her bonnet about something there is no stopping her. She negotiated for an extra month off when the baby was born if she worked up until she was due, which wasn't for another 2 weeks.

Stiles was in a difficult position, he said he would be at the hospital with Alison and Scott but he also couldn't leave the siren where she was and tonight might be their only chance to put her back in the ocean which was an hour’s drive away and she freaked out if him or Derek wasn't there.

“I get it man” Scott said, a little deflated “You gotta do what you gotta do”

“I  _ want _ to be there Scott, I really do, I want to support you and Ally and Little Sisco”

“We are not calling it Sisco, Stiles!” He could hear the fondness in Scott’s voice and Alison screaming something about castrating Scott. He winced at the thought. “I’ll call you when the babies here”

“Go keep the town safe for my little one Stiles” He heard Alison shout “I’ve got this” He grinned because she really would have control of the situation there. He was just really sad that he was going to miss it, he’d been at every one of the scans so far and even attended the prenatal class that Scott couldn't make because there was an emergency at work. He was invested in this child.

“Will do, tell Ally I promise to keep the town safe. Call me when you can. Oh and dude? Congratulations” When he handed the phone back to Derek he gave him a weak smile “Did it go ok with Kira”

Derek shrugged “more or less, she’s not the most forgiving person”

“Right?” Stiles grinned “Gotta love a tough woman” He winked “We decided that Peter and Jackson will go and get the truck, Boyd will go with them to help set up the water pump as he’s the only one who knows how to work it and Parrish will go along in the cruiser for ‘police presence’ in case anyone asks questions. It will take about an hour to fill the tipper, so a minimum of 3 hours once they are on the road. Everyone else will go about their day as normal so we don’t rouse suspicion. At 8pm Peter will park the truck outside Hale House, you and I will take Spangle in the back of the Camaro '' Derek opened his mouth to protest “We have no choice, Parrish will be following the truck in the cruiser remember? Anyway, we will meet them on the drive way, transfer her to the back of the truck and drive back to the sea. Ok?”

“No!” He crossed his arms “I’m not putting her in the Camaro, no way”

“Derek, we all have to make sacrifices, this is yours”

“Yeah? And what are you sacrificing Stiles?” He took a step closer to him, Stiles gave him an exasperated look.

“I’m missing the birth of my niece or nephew, my one chance to be there at a birth, I probably won't have my own kids Derek, so don’t fucking tell me I’m not sacrificing anything”

Derek didn’t say anything because, really, what can he say to that? He felt a little stupid but there was no way he was going to let Stiles know that. Derek surmised that Kira must have some issues with children he doesn't want to broadcast.

“Where’s Cora?” He said instead taking a subtle step back.

“Jackson has her drawing up a legal document that creates a loophole for us to use and return the truck in the state we found it for official police business if the Wainright’s suddenly change their minds, the same with the water pump”

“Is that even legal?”

“Jackson says loopholes are there for a reason so we might as well take advantage”

\--------

The day felt long, Stiles kept asking Derek if he had heard from Scott, Derek kept getting annoyed with being asked every 2 minutes, Spangle kept wanting her hand to be kissed and have nose bumps, Erica kept popping in to check on the state of the room and much to Derek's annoyance Kira kept calling to speak to Stiles for what seemed like no reason. He was however grateful when Kira arrived with lunch for everyone from the bakery that makes the good sandwiches, not the shitty one nearby. She kissed Stiles cheek and Derek hardly held back a growl. He finally finds someone he’s interested in and not only is he straight but he’s got a bloody girlfriend. Story of Derek’s life. He did however take great pleasure when every time Kira entered the room the siren hissed at her.

Laura popped in with some raw fish which the siren took hungrily, staring at Kira through the open door and taking savage bites out of the carcass. She didn’t stay though, she had work to do, unrelated to the siren.

All in all it was going pretty well considering, or at least it was up until the point when Kate fucking Argent sauntered into the bedroom, only to be pushed out rather violently by Kira. Stiles slammed the door with his foot and Derek froze, trying to listen to what was being said.

“What are they saying?” Stiles whispered.

“Kate said there’s been some suspicious activity and she’s come to check it out. Kira told her where to go”

Stiles snorted inelegantly, “Yeah. Lesson one, don’t piss off a fox”

“Noted” Derek smiled and rolled his eyes “Kate wants to know if there’s a story here and what’s happened about the lake deaths? She still thinks I’m missing. Good. At least she can’t come on to me while I’m supposedly missing”

“Reporters suck, especially Kate Argent, she’s the bane of my Dad’s existence”

“Kira threatened to ‘remove’ her if she doesn’t leave. She’s not stupid Stiles, the more she thinks we’re hiding something the more she’ll push, what Kira is doing is great but it won’t make her leave. She’s been after a juicy story on us Hales for years, trying to make it into the bigger papers and not just the Beacon Hills Post” Stiles nodded and began to tap his fingers on his leg.

“I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it”

“Then let's not do whatever it is” Derek pinched the bridge of his nose.


	4. Ed's a WHAT?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Friends, I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it? Thanks for staying through the journey with me, I really appreciate it <3
> 
> Take care!!

“Take your shirt off Prince Derek!” Stiles grinned and stood up undoing his trousers and letting them flap open to slightly reveal his superman boxer shorts. He didn't even regret his choice of underwear, the look on Derek's face was worth it.

“What!?” Derek scrambled to his feet but if anyone asked he’ll tell them he stood up casually and his voice did not squeak and he definitely didn't get instantly tight pants.

“Off. Take it off. Quickly” Stiles grabbed at the hem but Derek slapped his hands away, taking off his shirt he looked over at the siren who was now sitting on her tail, staring with interest. “Brace yourself dude, things are about to get weird” He messed his hair up a bit and opened the door so the siren could see out but Kate couldn’t see in, that way she could still see them and hopefully not freak out. His heart was pounding in his chest when he grabbed the front of Derek’s trousers and pulled him forward. Derek’s eyes were wide as he stumbled towards Stiles who then proceeded to walk backwards until his legs hit the bed, he clutched Derek’s shoulders as he fell backwards, taking the stunned werewolf with him, pushing Derek’s face into his neck he turned to Kira and said “Come on baby” Derek squeaked and tried to lift his head but Stiles held him down, lifting his leg so it was placed between Derek’s and if he moved just a little more to the left Derek was going to have a real problem. Kate looked between a tangled Stiles and Derek, and Kira and smirked.

“Guess I better leave you to your threesome” She flicked her hair as she turned, leaving Kira standing in the doorway looking bewildered. Derek inhaled Stiles' scent, it assaulted every part of his body, filling him with desire.

Stiles threw his head back as much as he could and cackled, Kira closed the door. “Ok dude” Stiles patted Derek’s back where he had been tracing the line of his spine with his fingers “You can get off me now” Derek pulled back, his eyes were shut and his cheeks flushed, the room was filled with the smell of arousal, he was unsure how much of it was him and how much of it was the siren, who was now leaning over the side of the bath to get a better view. Stiles sat up and smiled at her “Get back in your tub pervert!” He watched Derek take a couple of steps back, still dumbfounded “Sorry” He said quietly “I told you, you wouldn’t like it” Kira sat on the bed next to him and rubbed his back.

Derek was still in a haze of lust, “I’ll er, leave you two to er, to talk” He muttered going into the bathroom and shutting the door. Within seconds there was a splashing noise and a growl escaped Derek’s mouth, Stiles and Kira burst through the door to see Derek laying on top of the siren in the bath, soaking wet and trying his hardest to pull away but it was like she had 8 arms, her hands were everywhere, pulling at his trousers to remove them, scratching at his back and making him hiss.

Stiles laughed so much he was doubled over, even Kira had her hand over her mouth trying not to giggle out loud.

“No,” Derek said, pushing at her “Spangle, No!”

“Well we know what sort of porn mermaids like then” Stiles smirked and stepped forward dramatically waving his hand and said “Ok wench, unhand my mate” She hissed at Stiles, her eyes glazed over. He managed to get his hand in between them and pressed his hand to Derek’s heart “Derek belongs to Stiles” He made his voice a little more forceful “Mine”

She stopped fighting but didn’t let go of Derek who was trying not to get slashed by her tail. Stiles took Derek’s hand and kissed it, he swallowed thickly watching Stiles’ plump lips press against his own wet skin, he whimpered very softly and closed his eyes, for what felt like the hundredth time that day he hoped Stiles didn’t notice his issues in the trouser department. His eyes flew open when he felt Stiles’ long fingers card through his hair as he said, barely above a whisper “He’s mine”

That’s it! Derek couldn’t stand this anymore, he was about 2 seconds away from embarrassing himself. He wrenched himself up and stepped over the side of the tub, soaking wet with his clothes stuck to him in all the right places, growled and stomped outside, leaving wet footprints all over the room.

Stiles and Kira stared after him but neither one made a move, the siren flapped about in the water completely unaware of Derek’s tiny tantrum.

Derek stood outside and took a deep breath, the sun was beating down on him, he leaned his head back and soaked it in for a second. He let out a long breath and tried to calm his racing pulse. Stiles should know better than to do that to a wolf, what the hell was he thinking grabbing him like that in front of Kira and then announcing that Derek belonged to him.  _ What the fuck Stiles _ ? You don’t say that shit to someone like Derek, it’s hard enough to control his wolf around Stiles as it is and if he presses his hand to his chest one more time Derek swears he’s going to fucking lose it, he will chomp that appendage right off then what would Stiles do with no-

Erica cut him off “Well that was a quick threesome” She smirked sauntering over to him, he just looked at her not sure what to say “If you want one that lasts a little longer give me and Boyd a shout” She ran her hand over his arm as she passed him and wandered into the room. He spluttered but didn’t actually manage to get any full words out before she shut the door behind her. “Stiles?” She asked from the other side of the bathroom door “Is it safe to enter?”

“Yeah, come in Erica”

Kira and Stiles were leaning against the wall “Any news from Ally?” She asked, Stiles shook his head.

“Erica? What did you do?” Stiles narrowed his eyes at her “You’ve got a feral grin, what have you done?”

“Nothing” She tried to look as innocent as possible, and wearing skin tight clothing and red lipstick does not make that easy “I simply said to Derek that if his threesome with you guys wasn’t satisfying, he knew where to find myself and Boyd” She said shrugging nonchalantly.

“Erica” Stiles practically screamed, Kira gasped and put her hand over her mouth “Oh my God! He’s going to be scarred for life! Go and apologise right now! Prince Derek is a sensitive soul Erica!” He said half laughing.

She rolled her eyes “Just tell him Stillinski, before Boyd and I make him into a snack” she winked suggestively.

Someone cleared their throat behind her, Derek held out his phone for Stiles.

“It’s Jackson” He said quietly before handing the phone over and leaving the room again.

“Hey Jax” Stiles said, slumping against the wall and sliding to the ground “How’s it going?”

“It’s not. The truck wont start, Parrish has got caught up in some neighbour dispute and Peter punched a goat”

Stiles burst out laughing “Peter did what?”

“You heard. Parrish is trying to calm the very pissed of owner of the goat, who by the way was fucking asking for it with his beady little eyes” His voice took on a growly manor “But more importantly, the truck won’t start”

“Have you tried turning it off and back on again?”

“I swear to God Stillinski-“ There was a scuffle at the other end of the phone and Boyd’s calm voice was the next to speak.

“Stiles? I need some jump leads, have Derek or someone bring them to the farm, there’s another truck I can jump it from if Parrish can settle this dispute, but no-one in this place seems to have any equipment of any kind, or at least any they are willing to share”

“Sure Boyd” He looked at his watch “Give me an hour, tie Peter up or something and don’t let Jackson get too involved, you know what he’s like”

Boyd snorted “Any news on Ally?”

“Not yet, be there soon”

Stiles shouted for Derek, which there really wasn't any need to shout like that, Derek was a wolf so raising his voice just a little would have done the trick.

Derek sloshed through the door scowling at everyone “What?”

“There’s a problem at the farm, the truck wont start, they need jump leads, Boyd suggested you take them to him, but in your current moistened state, it’s probably best if I go”

Derek nodded, “I’ve got jump leads in the Camaro, take that” He threw Stiles his keys.

“Any idea what to do with Peter when he’s angry?” Stiles asked, catching them and rising to his feet.

Derek shrugged “Run?”

“Helpful as always Prince Derek”

Erica had charged Stiles phone for him, when he got into the Camaro and turned it on he had a dozen missed calls from Scott with voice messages that went from “Hey, guess what? Ally’s water broke” to “I will fucking track you down Stillinski” Scott was such a pussy cat really, it made Stiles chuckle. He had a few text messages from his Dad asking how things were going to which he replied that they were ok, just a few mishaps which they are happily sorting. Putting his phone on hands free he pulled out of the car park, making sure he didn’t make the tires scream or Derek would kill him if the lecture he received before he got out of the bathroom was anything to go by.

His phone began to ring, ‘Daddio’ flashed up on the screen, he answered it smiling “Go for Stiles!”

“Hey Kiddo, everything ok? Any news from Ally?” Why was everyone asking him that, like he would forget to tell people if Scott’s cub had been born,  _ Jesus _ , he’s not incompetent.

“No news, things are ok. You? You sound weird”

“I just had a visit from Kate Argent” Stiles groaned “She wanted to ask for my comment on how my son, the local librarian and Derek Hale were having a threesome during work hours?”

“Ah. Right. It’s er, not what you think Dad”

“Son, you can do whatever you like, but don’t do it during work hours and don’t get caught. I do however have one question?”

“Fire away Daddio”

“Where was Parrish?” Stiles grinned “Actually you know what, don’t answer that, I don’t care”

Stiles loved his Dad, it didn’t matter how weird his life got he just went along with it and all the while Stiles was safe and happy he just supported him no matter what.

“Dad?”

“Hmm”

“I made it look like a threesome to stop Kate snooping around in the bathroom and finding you know who. And as for my choice of partners, Derek Hale is a hard yes, pun intended-“

“Stiles!”

“But doing Kira would be like doing my sister if I had one and that’s just wrong Dad. Wrong”

“Call me if you need anything Stiles” His Dad skilfully ignored Stiles’ remark.

“Will do, love you”

“You too kiddo”

\-----------

Kira had left shortly after Stiles, not wanting to be alone with Derek, and Erica left a little while after that, as soon as she’d finished leering at the way Derek’s Henley moulded to his substantial frame. 

At least when it was just him and the siren it didn’t smell of arousal any more, well not unless he did something to accidently excite her like when he took his jeans and tshirt off to hang them up to dry. He was used to women looking at him, giving off signals of lust and sexual desire so really he wasn’t even that bothered by it, besides, she obviously liked Stiles too as the room always smelled of arousal when he was in it. 

“I get it” He said leaning his arms on the side of the bath and resting his head on them, she looked at him unblinking, the way she always did when he spoke, it was like she thought he hung the moon “How it feels to have unreciprocated feelings for someone” She blinked owlishly at him “It sucks and I’m sorry” He scrubbed a hand over his face, looking at the door and cocking his head to listen, making sure he was alone he continued “Have you seen his hands?” He wiggled his fingers “They should be illegal, so elegant, so nimble” He sat up a little straighter, she followed suit “And the way he grabbed my hair earlier today had me almost embarrassing myself in front of him, his scent” He threw his head back “Ugh, he smells like spiced apple cider and a hint of lemons, not shower gel or shampoo, that’s literally his own smell” Her eyes got wider and her face got closer, Derek enjoyed the feeling of freedom he had when he spoke to someone who didn’t understand him and didn’t judge him “It’s like he doesn’t even know how attractive he his, and that smirk, Jesus Christ, I almost-“

It happened in the blink of an eye, Derek was so lost in his speech that he failed to see her hands come up and grab him by the shoulders, she pulled him into the bath and made a keening noise as she wiggled against him “Shit” He spluttered as she pulled his face under water, he surfaced again “Spangle, no'' Another head dip and a harsh gasp as he tried to pull free “Stop, Stop” He made his voice softer “Hey, shhhh, stop ok?” She pulled him but not quite so hard, “Ok I have an idea, loosen the grip there kong” He prized her fingers from the back of his neck “If I’m gonna lay in the bath with you, I’m not laying on top of you” He tried to slide underneath her but she was all hands and fangs and hair which was getting up his nose “Ok new plan” He said getting out of the bath, he pushed her forward and got in behind her, as she leant back the shirt she was wearing stuck to his bare skin, he had his arms on the side of the bath as she settled in between his legs. Grabbing one of his hands she threaded their fingers together, as much as they would go, her webbing was somewhat troublesome. He used his other hand to wipe her hair out of her face as she leant her head back “I wish you could tell me where you’re from, tell me all about where you live. What customs do you have? What religion you are, if you have one at all? What currency you use, if you use any?” He rambled on about what he would like to learn about mermaid culture making sure he stayed away from any conversation involving Stiles as that just seemed to excite her. It was interesting to Derek that she reacted that way, it led him to think that she too could pick up on chemosignals. 

He had no intention of getting back out of the bath again any time soon, which was a good thing as she was asleep. He took the opportunity to snap a picture, not for anyone else's viewing and not for any weird fetish, simply because he knew without a doubt he was going to turn this into a novel. He didn't want to forget any part of her, he felt a little sad when he concluded that she had shown him more love in the last few days than he had received his whole life. Not that the Hales were not loving, they were, wolves were very loving, they enjoyed bonding and their love language was touch, but Derek had never received that kind of love outside of the family “I hope you find love” He whispered, giving her a kiss on the top of her head.

\-------------

“Where?” 

“On the left, take the dirt track, Jackson’s at the entrance, just don't cut across the grass Stiles, the farmer is very particular about his grass”

“10-4 Parrish, did you get the goat situation under control?”

“Yeah, Peter’s now having a beer with the owner and the farmer, I honestly can't keep up with this, I know Beacon Hills is weird but honestly, this is too much”

The phone began to crackle as Stiles approached the farm “Right? Derek Hale rolls back into town and things just go mental, coincidence? I think not!”

“Sti- the -er -aid don't”

“You’re breaking up dude, I can see Jackson, be there in a second”

Stiles hung up and gripped the steering wheel tight, wondering exactly how much trouble he would be in with Derek once he had driven the Camaro down a farm track. His own fault for getting wet and being unable to drive, he did look good wet though, Stiles was grateful for that at least.

Jackson jumped in as soon as Stiles pulled up next to him at the top of the track.

“Why are  _ you _ driving  _ his _ car? It stinks of him” He opened the window dramatically taking great big gulps of air.

“He ended up in the bath with Spangle, long story dude”

“You stink of him” He narrowed his eyes “Why do you smell like you’ve been rolling around with him?”

“Cos I have!” Stiles winked and got out of the car, walking over to Boyd and Parrish, he raised his hand in greeting to Peter who looked way too comfortable on the lawn chair he was lounging in.

Stiles directed Boyd over to the trunk of the Camaro where the jump leads were, between him and Parrish they would have the truck up and working in no time, there was a larger truck parked next to it which would be perfect to jump it from. Jackson was still sniffing around him and occasionally growling, Stiles pretended not to notice until Jackson grabbed him by the arm.

“I can't stand it anymore” He rubbed his cheek on Stiles and pulled him into a gentle hug, rubbing up and down his back. He scented his neck with his hand and ran his fingers through Stiles’ hair, he secretly loved it when Jackson was cuddly. He preferred it when it wasn't a possessive thing but he knew enough about wolves to know when to pick his battles and at the end of the day Jackson was his best friend and Derek, well he was just a crush.

“Jax stop assaulting Stiles and help me” Boyd's voice was strained as if he was lifting something heavy, Stiles didn't look, he carried on walking towards Peter, Jackson let him go after one more sniff and made his way over to where Boyd was trying to hold the side of the truck up while Parrish looked underneath. Jackson stood next to Boyd and took some of the strain.

“Pretty sure jump leads don't go underneath you dumbasses”

“No but other things do, it wont jump and we need to know why, Parrish knows a little bit about cars so hopefully he can get it working”

Both men were struggling to lift it only a small way off the ground, even with werewolf strength.

“Hey” 

“Ah. Stiles. Why, pray tell, are you driving my nephew's car?”

“Spangle wanted him in the bath with her, like literally in the bath” The farmer and the goat owner looked at each other and raised their eyebrows.

Peter turned to address them “Town folk, am I right?” They raised their glasses “Stiles would you like a drink, I’m sure my country friends here wouldn't mind”

“No” He held a hand up “Thank you but I’m driving”

“I’m not” Peter grinned as the three of them clinked their beer bottles. A large white goat with horns approached them, he was as tall as Stiles’ hip and chewing the cud, staring straight at Peter.

“Hey fella” Stiles held his hand out to stroke him.

“Stiles!” Peter shouted, standing up “Get away from him” He made shooing movements towards the goat “Go on, piss off” He flapped his arms and the goat lowered his head “I will punch you again, you know I will”

The owner flung his arm to the side “Ed, go on, get” He said, the goat obeyed and sauntered over to watch Jackson, Boyd and Parrish working on the truck. Stiles thought it best not to mention that the owner and the farmer looked like they only had 6 teeth between them. Some thoughts he could keep to himself.

“So what’s with Ed? Have you not had him for long?” He put his hands in his pockets to stop him keep checking the time.

“Had ‘im all his life” The owner said, tipping the brim of his straw hat up,  _ and come on, could these people get anymore cliche?  _

“Oh” Stiles kicked at some dirt “I thought maybe he was acting up in his new home or something, are goats usually that narky?”

“He’s not narky, he's an asshole” Peter spat

“He’s a goat dude, how much of an asshole can he be?”

“The little shit tried to impale me when I got out of the car”

“Now now” Straw hat interjected “You shouldda paid him his 5 bucks, he won that fair and square from ya in that poker game on Wednesday”

Peter made a dismissive noise and waved a hand “I said I’d give it to him at he next game, if he can't wait a week that’s not my problem Bill”

Was Stiles in a dream right now? A weird fucked up, possibly alcohol induced dream, or did he just say Peter lost 5 bucks to a goat in a card game?

“Oh catch up Stiles” Peter said gruffly “He’s a weregoat, obviously”

“A were? A weregoat? There are such things as weregoats?” He pulled his lower eyelids down with his hands.

“Yes” Peters exasperated tone was really beginning to get on Stiles’ nerves “Our families have been friends for hundreds of years, we protect them in exchange for friendship and loyalty or some crap. Bill is Ed's Dad.”

“Right. Right then. Poker playing weregoats, obviously” He let out a slightly hysterical laugh and turned to go and find Jackson and the others.

It took almost an hour to get the truck started, but as soon as it was the group, minus Stiles and the Camaro made their way to the beach. Time was running out if they wanted to get Spangle back in the ocean tonight, they had to do it under the cover of darkness or they risked her being seen by too many people. 

Stiles pulled up at Grandma's B&B in Derek’s beloved car and winced as he saw the mud splashed up the back and sides.

“Dude I promise to pay for a full valet” Stiles called as he walked through the door of room 3B. The door to the bathroom was shut and he could faintly hear the siren humming. He wondered whether he should knock in case she's having a private moment but on second thoughts if she’s having a private moment it will be with Prince Derek and Stiles is not sure he’s ok with that.

“Hey guys!” He stuck his head around the door to see Derek sat in the bath with the siren sat between his legs. He had one arm draped over the side of the tub and the other wrapped around her waist, where her tail met her torso. She in turn had her head against his chest and was gently flapping her fins on the side of the bath “Well this needs to be documented” He said, taking out his phone and snapping a few pictures.

“Truck all sorted?” Derek asked, yawning, clearly having just woken up.

“It is now, it needed a bit of fiddling with but Parrish and Boyd managed to get it going again, hey did you know there are weregoats?”

Derek snorted “You met Ed then?”

“Don't snort at me Prince Derek, that dude is seriously weird”

“He’s got a crush on Laura. She hates him, it stems back to when he tried to kiss her in front of the guy she was crushing on during a hay ride we went on at the farm as teenagers. She’s never forgiven him”

“Harsh”

“You’ve met Laura right?” He laughed “Hey, watch this” He focused his attention on the siren who was giving Stiles a once over with nothing but heat behind her eyes “Spangle? What's friends?” She tipped her head back to stare at him “What’s friends?” He repeated. She grabbed at his hand over the side of the bath and linked their fingers together. He grinned, nodding “Yeah, that's right” He looked at Stiles who was also grinning.

“Hey” He said kneeling down next to them “You learned a new word. That's great” He stroked delicately down the side of her face.

“Oh no” Derek muttered putting both hands round her waist and pulling her towards him “Stiles, leave the room, like now, leave”

“What?” Stiles stood up looking around the room “What’ve I done?”

“Just. Please Stiles. Coffee, go and grab us a coffee. Go. Go. Go.”

Stiles left the room feeling confused and a little grumpy but Erica soon cheered him up regaling him with tales of weirdos that come into the B&B, including Bunny man who just pays for a room once every three months to have a break from his wife and her obsession with rabbits.

She also informed him that Deaton had handed the venom and analysis over to the Sheriff so he could do with it what he saw fit, apparently a few of the werewolves on staff had been a little twitchy about the mountain ash casing but it was stored away in the supernatural evidence locker which very few people actually knew about.

By the time Stiles had returned Derek was sitting on the side of the bath in nothing but his boxer shorts dripping wet and looking like a fucking wet dream. He really hoped he didn't make the embarrassing noise that went through his head out loud. He cautiously entered the room and gave Derek his coffee, he pointedly did not look at his glistening torso.  _ Fuck. He really wished he’d put some clothes on before Stiles licked him.  _

“You know how I take my coffee?” Derek raised his eyebrows,  _ and actually while we’re on that subject, is it even real to have eyebrows that have their own language? _ “Stiles?” Derek asked again when Stiles just stood there staring.

“Hmm? Oh! Yeah, cream and 2 sugars” Derek used the cup to cover the small smile he couldn't help forming on his face. “You gonna tell me what that was all about?” Stiles blew his coffee and took a step forward.

“Stop!” Derek’s eyes grew wide “Stay back there. Please, just, just sit against the wall or something.

“Why?” Stiles did as he asked, Derek looked so serious with his brows hanging over his eyes like that, Stiles wanted to laugh.

“You, er, she, um” Derek scrubbed his hands over his face “She picks up on chemosignals, like a wolf” Stiles shrugged,  _ she could smell him, so what?  _ Derek continued, obviously uncomfortable “She likes……..your smell” He raised his eyebrows pointedly and took a sip of his coffee.

“Holy shit” Stiles’ face broke out into a huge grin “She’s turned on by me!” He crowed, clearly very pleased with the situation, he did a little shimmy and sang “Stiles be sexy”, Derek really didn't want to put his coffee down on his lap but having his hands there at the moment seemed to be the most sensible plan for it as he was only wearing his boxers and  _ fuck _ did Stiles look gorgeous when he grinned. Only Stiles could be excited about making a mermaid horny. He winked at the siren.

“Yeah Stiles” Derek rolled his eyes “Cos’ that’s gonna help the situation”

“Shut up Prince Derek, You’re just jealous” Stiles cackled

“No. How do you think I ended up in the bath in the first place” He raised a brow, trying not to grin.

“Oh snap! Prince Derek, did you and her do the horizontal fish mambo?” Stiles was desperate to stand up and mock Derek, he wasn't nearly as expressive on the floor, it was really cramping his style.

“What the hell Stiles? No!” Derek stood up “That’s just wrong! My clothes are dry so I’m gonna go get dressed”

He left Stiles cackling on the floor. The siren was watching him with a horrific grin on her face which just made him laugh even more. Derek heard him saying various chat up lines to her while he was getting dressed, his favourite of which was “If I said you had a nice body, er tail, would you hold it against me?” which should not have gone straight to Derek’s groin. He really needed this situation to be over so he could get as far away from Stiles as possible. This crush was getting out of control. 

Derek could hear Stiles on the phone, he didn't listen in after he heard him say “Hey Kira, guess who’s some sort of mermaid sex god? Me!”, because he didn't want to be rude.

\-------------

It was exactly 8.26pm when Peter called Derek to say that they were about 20 minutes away with the truck. Filling it up had been eventful, it took almost 20 minutes just to set the damn water pump up, only to discover that the truck had an inbuilt one anyway, Peter was not amused, Jackson even less so. Boyd had managed to get the pump on the truck working too so they could fill the back of the tipper truck up in no-time, Parrish meanwhile had closed off the jetty for ‘official police business’ and was doing a grand job of keeping people away from them.

Stiles and Derek began to prepare to put Spangle in the back of the Camaro. While Derek did his best to try and convey what was about to happen to her, Stiles enlisted Erica and Kira, who had shown up a couple of hours before with a pizza for them, to help ensure the coast was clear. Stiles backed the car up to the door as close as he could, leaving them room to manoeuvre both themselves and the siren.

“Ready Prince Derek?” He watched as Derek lightly pressed his nose against hers “Ready?” He asked a little quieter, Derek nodded and lifted her up from the bath tub.

“Stiles” He hissed, almost dropping the siren “What the fuck did you do to my car?”

“I told you I would pay for a valet service, besides, technically it wasn’t me, you’re the one who got yourself a merwife, leaving us to sort it all out, so?” He shrugged and gave him a smug smile, opening the back door for him.

Once Derek was settled against the door with the siren between his legs wondering if he was ever going to be able to get the smell of fish out of the seats, Stiles pulled away.

Keeping the siren calm was proving to be a bit of an issue, she kept reaching for Stiles and making little yipping noises, Derek grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers one by one to distract her. She paused for a moment before pressing her fingers to his lips again, and again. Unfortunately that did not have the desired results, she flipped around and ended up face to face with him, still pressing her hand against his mouth desperately. She began to make keening noises, Stiles looked in his rear view mirror.

“You good Prince Derek?”

“For the love of god Stiles please just get there. She’s………excited again”

Derek could have sworn he heard Stiles say something about being 'so sexy' under his breath but he was trying to stop the siren trying to get past first base with him. They pulled up in front of the truck and Stiles got out of the car, greeting them all with a nod of his head.

“I trust my nephew is ok being left in the back of the car with the fish?” He cocked an eyebrow and watched the car rock, only a mixture of flailing arms and a tail could be seen through the slightly steamed up windows “It looks like a scene from titanic in there”

Stiles waved a hand “Oh yeah, he’s fine, she just wants some alone time with her prince. Anyway,” He banged on the side of the truck “How do we get her into this bad boy?” They all looked at each other blankly “For fuck sake please tell me at least once of you thought about how we were going to load her into this gigantic bath tub?”

“I assumed there would be a ladder?” Parrish answered quietly.

“And how would we get a scrambling 5 foot mermaid up a ladder and into a tipper truck Parrish?” He couldn’t even help the discontentment in his voice, he didn’t want to be mad at them but she was drying out and that could be detrimental to her health.

Laura walked out of the house to see what the commotion was “Why don't you just use a bed sheet to haul her up?”

Everyone stopped talking for a second and looked at her “Well that’s a fucking stupid idea” Jackson chirped up “That means someone's gotta get in the back of it with her, if that's happening I vote for Hale” He smirked clearly thinking this was some sort of insult.

“Actually” Stiles licked his lips “That, that could work. Laura go and grab us a sheet, Derek and I will get in the back of the truck, Peter, you’re driving”

Laura ran back inside and returned shortly after with a sheet, she laid it on the floor while Stiles directed everyone to where he wanted them, Boyd and Parrish on the ground, Peter and Jackson on the side of the truck, there were some handy foot holds they could stand on and him and Derek in the water. Laura to stand underneath her to help support her as she was being lifted.

He opened the door of the Camaro and caught Derek who was leaning against it at the time “Woah!” He huffed “Sorry dude. Throw all your valuables, phone, keys, wallet etc on the front seat, you and I are going swimming” Stiles handed his phone to Peter in case Scott called with an update.

Derek didn’t even question it at this point, why bother, he had spent the last few days more wet than dry. It began to rain a little, not that Derek really cared, he just wanted to get her safely back in the sea and go about his normal life, doing his normal writing and following Stiles around like a lost sheep. 

He managed to haul himself and the siren out of the car and carry her towards the sheet, Stiles didn’t need to tell him the plan cos, well, werewolf hearing. He placed her on the sheet Laura had laid out, she immediately began to hiss at Peter and Jackson, while clawing at Derek trying to climb back up into his arms. He knelt beside her, turning her face to meet his “Its ok” He smiled “We’re gonna take you home” He kissed the top of her head and extracted himself from her grip. Him and Stiles both removed their shoes and socks and climbed up the side of the truck and into the cold briny water. Stiles made a few ‘ohh ahh’ noises but Derek didn’t seem bothered by it at all.

Both men looked over the side and reached their arms downwards, signalling that they were ready for her to be passed to them. Boyd and Parrish began to fold the sides of the sheet together, Parrish and Laura both speaking to her in a reassuring manor, she kept her eyes fixed on Boyd, all was going well until they had lifted her up as far as they could reach and Peter and Jackson were about to take over, she began to struggle and hiss making it hard to keep hold of her, Laura rushed to steady her from below while Peter and Jackson grabbed the corners of the sheet and tried not to get clawed, they pulled her up to their level and the sheet began to rip. Both men looked at each other wide eyed.

“Hey!” Stiles suddenly shouted, the rain was coming down in rods now, making it hard to keep their grip on the sheet “Spangle. Eyes on me and Prince Derek'' She looked up to where the noise was coming from, Derek and Stiles both reached their arms down to her, leaning over as far as they could. She in turn reached up to them, the closer she got to them as Peter and Jackson lifted her, the calmer she became. Once they had hold of the sheet, with the added pushing from below, they all tumbled back into the truck bath, there was a lot of splashing and a soaking wet sheet splattered on the floor about a foot away from Laura which made her jump backwards.

“Go, go, go, go” Stiles shouted, Peter climbed into the cab of the truck and started the engine.

“Should we follow them?” Laura asked Parrish, he shook his head.

“No, we need to keep them as inconspicuous as possible”

“Come on then,” She said “Let’s get some coffee”

Never in his life did Jackson think he would be sitting at the Hale’s dining table waiting for his best friend to release a mermaid into the sea, but here he was, he dedicated to call Ethan, him and Cora finish work soon, it was their job to field calls to all of them for the day, from the law office.

\-----------

It was past 10pm by the time the truck pulled up on the promenade by the sea. Derek and Stiles had been thrown about at every stop sign and every traffic light on the way there, which neither of them thought was strictly necessary, simply Peter’s sadistic enjoyment. The siren on the other hand was over the moon to have her two favourite humans in the water with her, she kept going beneath the surface and popping up in different places, usually in one or the other's faces. She got very handsy about 45 minutes into the drive, which was not great for either of them but she was clearly having the time of her life making yipping and growling and bubbling noises. This prompted them to press their hands to each other's chests to try and remind her that they were fake mates and she had to leave them alone.

Clearly she didn't give a shit when she grabbed Derek’s face and licked straight up the side of it. Stiles had thrown his head back and barked out a laugh that was simultaneously annoying and captivating, his long neck on display distracted Derek from the situation allowing the siren to get another obscene lick up the side of his face. She took a little calming down again after that, but Derek could practically feel her vibrating with excitement, she could smell the sea, he knew she could, he found himself smiling at her despite himself.

Peter backed the truck up as close to the edge of the jetty as he could get it. They could hardly see in front of their faces with how hard the rain was coming down, Derek grabbed Stiles by the arm.

“Ready?” He shouted, Stiles nodded “Ready Peter” He said quieter, Peter could hear him perfectly well over the tapping of the rain. The truck lurched and jumped as he lifted the back up, then opening the back of it the water came out in a tidal wave, taking all three passengers with it, they landed hard into the ocean and immediately went under.

Derek surfaced first and looked around for Stiles, who surfaced about 6 feet away from him, he rubbed a had over his face and spluttered a bit as Peter lowered the truck bed and drove away, he was instructed to meet them on one of the side roads so they did not draw attention to themselves.

The siren swam circles around them and dived down every so often. She kept grabbing them by the trousers and dragging them a little further out to sea.

“Stiles?” Derek said “Are you ok?”

“Sure, Prince Derek, I’m ok, a little sad to be saying goodbye to your ex-merwife, but it’s better that she’s here and not killing locals in the lake”

She bobbed her head out of the water and made a screaming noise, both men dived forward to stop her screaming.

“We gotta say goodbye” Stiles felt choked up, he wasn’t sure exactly why, but he had grown rather fond of her over the last few days “You need to go and live your best fish life” He tucked her wet hair behind one of her ears, it got caught on the cute little fins she had on the top of them, he pressed his nose to hers, she pushed back enthusiastically making him smirk.

“Thank you” Derek whispered to her, rubbing his hand down the side of her face “Go and be happy” He pushed his nose to hers how Stiles had, her reply was just as enthusiastic. She looked between them and frowned, her eyes took on a dark demeanour making Derek’s hackles rise, she pushed her hand against Derek’s chest before pressing her hand against hers.

In the blink of an eye Derek was gone, Stiles was frantically looking around for him, but it was dark and raining and he couldn’t see his hand in front of him let alone see where Derek was underwater. 

He was treading water faster and faster, like he was running a marathon. “Derek” He shouted “Fuck! Derek” He kept dipping his head under the water despite not being able to see anything “Derek!” He practically screamed his name, he could feel his chest tighten and his screams becoming quieter as he began to get breathless.

It felt like forever, he thought about all the times he should have told Derek how he felt, all the times he could have kissed him and all the missed opportunities that were still to come. He saw something pop up and break the surface of the water a small way in front of him. Derek's body was bouncing up and down with the tide. Stiles swam over to him, it didn’t take more than a couple of seconds, he turned Derek over so he was face up and put an arm around his chest, resting his head on Stiles shoulder “Derek?” He asked, his voice a bit manic at this point.

“Stiles?” Was Derek’s groggy reply, he began to cough and splutter, Stiles held on to him tightly.

“I got you big guy, I got you” The siren appeared a little way in front of them and hissed at Stiles “No!” He shouted, shielding Derek’s body with his own while still holding him up, Derek was taking in gasps of air “Mine!”

No way was he giving up Derek without a fight. He softened a little when she looked at him with sad eyes but didn’t let his guard down. She dived down low again, the men drifting out to sea with every wave. Derek recovered and was able to hold his own weight, they were treading water, facing each other.

“What happened?” Stiles asked.

“I don’t know, I was saying goodbye to her and the next thing I know I’m underwater being dragged to god knows where”

“She indicated that you were hers again before you went under, she did the chest press thing”

Derek nodded “Yeah I remember” He ran a hand through his wet hair, making it stick up a little.

They bobbed around for a few more seconds “Are you ok Prince Derek?”

“Am I still a prince if I don’t have my Disney mermaid girlfriend anymore? And yes, I’m ok Stiles”

“I will go back to calling you writer Derek then” He grinned “Do you think she’s coming back?”

“No idea, let's get out of here before she does” They swam over to the jetty and climbed up, it was a struggle as they were both tired. They looked out over the ocean, the rain still coming down, though not as hard as it was.

“I’ll kind of miss her, in a weird sort of way”

“Me too” Derek agreed

“So?” Stiles put his hands in his pockets

“So?”

“Look dude, I’ve been flirting with you for like, weeks now and I get that you might not be interested but I need to know either way, cos I cant keep stumbling over myself like this and-“

Derek’s eyebrows shot up “What about Kira?”

“Kira?” Stiles shouted

“Yes, your girlfriend, the one you buy lunch for every day and speak to a million times a day on the phone”

Stiles bent forward laughing “Kira has been one of my best friends for years, you thought?” He breaks again to laugh “You thought we were dating?” Derek frowned and nodded “Dude, I am not into Kira” Derek smiled a little, the one that made Stiles want to taste it “Now are you gonna kiss me in the rain like a good Disney prince or what?”

Derek stepped into Stiles’ space, he placed one hand on his hip and the other cupped his jaw, Stiles’ hands automatically went to curl around Derek’s shoulders. At first it was just a brush of lips, like Derek was unsure and giving Stiles time to step back, but it gradually got deeper as he opened his mouth for him, giving him permission to touch, to taste. Derek let out a small growl and Stiles felt his knees turn a little like jelly.

There was a scream in front of them, making them pull apart instantly, both looking in the water. They could see the Sirens head bobbing up and down. They stared at her for a few seconds, Derek put his arm around Stiles, he in return, snuggled into his side. It wasn’t long before she dipped back below the water again and splashed around a little way out. They stood there for a few more minutes when it became clear she wasn’t coming back they turned and made their way back up the jetty, “Now writer Derek, we must get you out of those wet clothes immediately, I don’t want you getting sick”

“Werewolves don’t get sick” He said taking Stiles hand as they walked

“Jesus Derek, take a hint” He sighed dramatically “Fine, lets get me out of my clothes then before I get sick”

“Deal” He grinned.

When they got back to the truck Peter was reading a newspaper, Stiles opened the door for Derek and motioned for him to go first, he had just lifted up his leg to climb in when Stiles said “After you boyfriend Derek” He immediately lost his footing and stumbled head first into the truck, hitting his head on the side of the seat.

Stiles snorted out a laugh, Derek growled a little and Peter said “Very smooth nephew, very smooth” He folded his paper up and passed Stiles his phone “You may want to phone Scott”

He had 7 missed calls and a photo of Scott, Alison and a grumpy looking baby. Hannah Rose McCall was born 10 minutes before Stiles’ phone call, he felt like the proudest uncle in the world. He grabbed Derek’s face and pulled him into a slow and passionate kiss, Derek returned the kiss with vigour, they only pulled apart when Peter complained about the smell they were both radiating.

\-------------

Derek and Stiles had been dating a little over 6 months when Derek released his first book ‘Call of the Siren’ it was a fictional story of a siren who was kidnapped from the sea by a nefarious drugs rep and had to be returned from whence she came. Only a handful of people knew it was based on real life events but none of them were about to go telling tales. Jackson eventually got used to Stiles smelling like Derek, even though they did still partake in scent wars occasionally.

Parrish and Laura had been happily dating for a few months now, he spends a lot of time at Hale house too, so it's not unusual for him and Stiles to go there straight after their shifts and leave together the next morning. Dora was devastated that Parrish would not be Daisy-May’s father but she soon found a new deputy to stalk.

“Boyfriend Derek?” Stiles shouted from the en suite bathroom

“You can just call me Derek if you like?” He said popping his head round the door and seeing Stiles stood there with nothing but a towel slung low on his hips, Derek followed the lines of his body with his eyes, barely containing the blue that bled into them.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Stiles teased “Oh and don’t look at me like that and not do something about it Hale, I know that look, get in here and make good on the promises those eyes are giving me”

He wandered in and slid his hands around Stiles’ hips, feeling they way he left goose bumps in his trail, Stiles gave a little shiver,  _ ugh, Derek fucking loved it when he shivered _ . He bent his head and stuck his nose in the crook of his neck, as his hands continued the trail around his back. Stiles loved it when Derek put his hands on his lower back and pulled him flush against his own body. Stiles let his head drop back and let out a small gasp, as Derek mouthed a trail up his long neck to his jaw, teeth slightly scraping as he went. By this point Stiles had slid his hands into the back of Derek’s sweatpants and was happily squeezing his ass, he then slotted his leg in between Derek’s legs and,  _ oh fuck yeah, right there _ , it was all he could do not to let out an embarrassing noise. Luckily for him Derek had reached his mouth by this point and was busy trying to assault his tonsils.

Derek slid his hands under Stiles thighs and gently lifted him onto the worktop next to the sink, he wrapped his long legs around Derek and pulled him in as close as he could get, both needing the friction. They broke the kiss off, both panting, Derek pushed his nose to Stiles’, who grinned and pushed his back. He placed his hand over Derek's bare chest, and then to his own.

“Mine” Stiles whispered.

“Yours” Derek quietly agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> Come and find me on Tumblr if you want to chat :) https://www.tumblr.com/blog/littleleaf25


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